Rawalpindi eagerly awaits the completion of the Metro Bus project because the hurdles caused by the construction work on the project have been troubling the residents since its inception. Let’s hope that the authorities concerned will complete the project soon and the residents of the city will heave a sigh of relief and will actually start enjoying the proposed benefits of the project.
Now the Punjab government has planned to launch another large-scale infrastructure development project worth Rs 40 billion, which will be undertaken after the completion of the Metro Bus project. A senior government official told reporters that the provincial government would start development work on the Leh Expressway.
I should tell you the Leh Expressway is not a fresh project at all, as it was inaugurated by former president General (r) Pervez Musharraf in March 2007. The contract for the completion of the project was awarded to the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO), however the development work was stopped after Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) formed its government in Punjab in 2008.
A fresh feasibility study on the project was completed in 2014 and now the PML-N has decided to develop it once the Metro Bus project is finished.
The aforementioned government official also told reporters that the project would be completed in three phases. In the first phase, sewerage lines would be laid and connected to the Leh Nullah. In the second phase, the bed of the nullah and cement walls would be built, and in the last phase, the Leh Expressway would be built.
When the project was initiated in 2007, the total cost of the project had been estimated at Rs 20 billion, but the delay in the project has doubled its cost. The expressway will be built from Khattarian Bridge on IJ Principal Road to Ammar Chowk on Airport Road.
Let’s hope the government manages to complete this project in a short time and the residents can soon start to reap its benefits.
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