GUJRAT: A six-kilometre long portion of Gujrat-Jalalpur Jattan Road up to the University of Gujrat’s Hafiz Hayat campus Road will be rehabilitated at a cost of Rs312 million.

Earlier, a five-kilometre portion right from Jalalpur Jattan city to UoG Road had been dualised and reconstructed by the federal government’s funds for PML-Q MNA Hussain Elahi’s constituency in 2021.

The rehabilitation of 10 main roads, mainly in the rural areas of Gujrat, has been approved by the Punjab government. No road infrastructure scheme has been approved for Gujrat city in the next fiscal year’s development budget.

Official sources said most of the Rs500 uplift schemes proposed by each PML-N lawmaker and former ticket-holder could also not become part of next year’s Annual Development Program (ADP) since the proposals were late and the ADP had been finalised.

Six-kilometre road portion leading to UoG to be mended

The schemes, the officials said, might later be made part of the ADP as supplementary grant. Few road infrastructure schemes proposed by Gujrat’s lone PML-N MNA Abid Raza Kotla, prime minister’s adviser Qamar Zaman Kaira and ex-MPA Mian Tariq Mehmood Dinga had been approved, they said.

The officials said the rehabilitation of six-kilometre portion of Gujrat-Jalalpur Jattan Road and three other roads had actually been proposed by PML-Q MNA Moonis Elahi much before the resignation of then Punjab chief minister Usman Buzdar. Former PML-N lawmakers from Gujrat too had favoured the approval of the scheme.

The road has been in a dilapidated condition for long and daily road accidents’ ratio in that portion is also alarming as per the Rescue 1122 officials.

The UoG administration and residents of both Gujrat and Jalalpur Jattan cities had been demanding widening and reconstruction of the road which also leads to Sialkot-Lahore motorway as well as the Sialkot international airport via Shahbazpur bridge over the Chenab river.

The road rehabilitation projects include Gujrat-Sargodha Road’s 18km from Shaheen Chowk to Mungowal costing Rs475 million, Gujrat-Bhimbher Road (Bhelesar Morr to Daulatnagar -- 8.25km with Rs300 million cost), Head Ali Beig (Bhimbher Azad Jammau Kashmir border) to Sara-i-Alamgir city’s 19km with Rs636 million cost, Gujrat-Shadiwal Road’s 7.50km from Gujrat city to Shadiwal Town with Rs180 million cost, Tarikha to Khanki headworks’ 11km costing Rs264 million, Gujrat-Dinga Road’s 14km from Sadoke to Matwanwala with Rs582 million cost, Mungowal-Dina Road’s 22km with Rs879 million cost, Kunjah-Dinga Road’s 18km with Rs390 million cost and Kolta to Dilawarpur Road’s 10km portion costing Rs444 million.

Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2022