PM chairs meeting on Lahore road projects

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan said long-term planning is required for urban centres that would result in improved cities’ management, public service delivery and revenue generation.

The premier said this while chairing a meeting Wednesday on road projects aimed at reducing vehicular traffic burden on Lahore city. He said Lahore has huge potential for generating revenue and emphasised on utilising prime urban lands that are presently unutilised and are only “dead capital”. He added that revenue generated from prime locations can be utilised for public welfare schemes. He suggested that other urban projects in Lahore be operated on public–private partnership mode on the lines of Ravi Urban Development and Central Business District projects.

The meeting was briefed regarding Punjab government’s “Elevated Expressway from Main Boulevard Gulberg to M2 Motorway” project. It was informed that elevated expressway would provide an East-West route to commuters of Lahore and it is aimed at decreasing the huge burden of vehicles on existing roads. It was told that Punjab government has previously invested Rs5 billion on the project and the total cost of the project is estimated to be Rs61 billion with a completion time of 15 months. The project will save an average time of 30 minutes on the route and will have a capacity of 73,000 vehicles per day. The meeting was attended by federal ministers Shaukat Tarin, Shafqat Mehmood, Asad Umar, Fawad Chaudhry and SAPM Dr Shehbaz Gill. Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, provincial ministers and senior officers joined the meeting via video link.