TOBA TEK SINGH: The Abdul Hakeem-Khanewal section of Pindi Bhattian-Multan motorway (M-4) will be opened for traffic after Eidul Azha in the current month, the same day when Multan-Sukkur (M-5) will be inaugurated for which arrangements were under way for tentative date of Aug 14.

Federal Minister for Communication and Portal Services Murad Saeed has already announced that M-5 will be inaugurated in August.

After the opening of Abdul Hakeem-Khanewal section, the motorists who wanted to go to Sukkur from Islamabad while travelling on Islamabad-Lahore motorway M-2 will be able to use M-4 from Pindi Bhattian to Multan (286 kilometers) and then to take Multan-Sukkur M-5 (392km) without leaving motorway at any place. Similarly those who wished to travel to Sukkur from Lahore can use both motorways M-3 (Lahore-Abdul Hakeem) or M-4 to take M-5 as M-3 and M-4 are joined with each other at Abdul Hakeem.

It merits mentioning that M-4’s Pindi Bhattian-Faisalabad section was made operational in 2003 but it took 16 years for completion up to Multan.

Other sections - Faisalabad-Gojra, Gojra-Toba Tek Singh, Toba Tek Singh-Shorkot and Shorkot-Abdul Hakeem portions - were made operation during the last few years. Only 31-km portion between Abdul Hakeem and Khanewal was incomplete; however Khanewal-Multan section was already functional.

A National Highway Authority official told this correspondent that dual carriageway of M-4’s Abdul Hakeem-Khanewal had already been completed and the remaining work on its interchanges and toll plazas was in progress which will also be completed soon. He added that on this portion there would be three interchanges - Dinpur, Makhdoompur and Kabirwala.

Published in Dawn, August 5th, 2019