GUJRAT: The federal government has approved a mega project costing Rs7 billion for beautifying the city’s main entrances from the River Chenab side of the GT Road.

The project includes two flyovers, two bridges, a 30km long dual carriageway from the GT Road bypass to the Dinga Road and the Pakistan Social Development Programme (PSDP) on the recommendations of the PML-Q. The project will cover mostly the rural and some urban areas falling in NA-69, the constituency of PML-Q MNA Chaudhry Moonis Elahi as well as Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi.

A local PML-Q leader said the Chaudhrys had never lost PP-30 (Kunjah-Mungowal) since 1985. It mainly comprises the rural areas where most of the roads and other infrastructures had been in a shambles for the last many years.

According to official sources, Rs800m as an initial amount had been allocated in the current fiscal.

It is yet to be determined whether the project will be executed by the National Highways Authority (NHA) or the provincial highways department. The PC-1 of the project has already been sent to the federal government.

As per the proposed scheme, an elevated flyover would be constructed from the GT Road bypass, which would connect the old GT Road with the bypass. After that a dual carriageway, 24 foot wide on each side, would start from Samman village crossing of the Shadiwal Town where two separate bridges would be built on the Upper Jhelum Canal and Bhimbher storm water channel.

Another flyover would be constructed over the Gujrat-Sargodha Road and the same road starting from Samman near GT Road bypass would connect Gujrat-Dinga road near the Chakori Bhelowal (Dhal).

A senior official, privy to the project, said the heavy traffic would always use Gujrat-Dinga road, causing a great loss to that route as the heavy vehicles would approach the GT Road from Gharibawal and Pind Dadan Khan-Rasool through Dinga. Now the traffic would use that new route to reach the main national highway.

He said the flyover on GT Road bypass would be built like Azadi flyover in Lahore and it would be a beautiful addition at the entrance to the city, which had now stretched up to the Kathala railway crossing and Baab-i-Gujrat.

Published in Dawn, August 3rd, 2019