GUJRAT: The alignment of under-construction Sambrial-Kharian motorway, an extension of the Lahore-Sialkot Motorway (M11), has been changed by the National Highway Authority (NHA) after the Irrigation Department objected to the site plan for the construction of two bridges over the River Chenab linking Gujrat and Sialkot districts.

Official sources in the local administration as well as in NHA confirmed that the site plan had been changed after the model study of the bridges over Chenab which says the previous alignment plan might damage the Marala Headworks, Sialkot airport as well as the bridges of motorway over the Chenab.

Now the bridges will be constructed at least 5km down from the previous location, changing the alignment in Sambrial and Gujrat tehsils of Sialkot and Gujrat districts, respectively.

The bridges will now be constructed almost parallel to the existing Shahbazpur Bridge near Jalalpur Jattan, whereas the motorway route will also pass close to the Sialkot airport, said an official of the Gujrat administration.

He said the site plan of at least 34km in Gujrat and Sambrial tehsils had been changed out of total 69km section of the motorway. The construction work on 35km into Gujrat and Kharian tehsils was underway for the last one year.

Due to a change in the alignment, the land acquisition plan in at least 17 out of total 28 villages of Gujrat tehsil and around 12 of total 14 villages of Sambrial has also been changed, throwing a challenge to the authorities concerned, a senior officer of the land revenue department told Dawn.

He said the proposed site of Jalalpur Jattan’s interchange had also been changed due to the realignment.

A joint meeting of the NHA officials, representatives of contractor the firm and land revenue department to review the progress on land acquisition after the realignment plan was held with Gujrat Deputy Commissioner Safdar Virk in the chair here on Wednesday.

The land acquisition along the new route will be a challenging task for the administration and executing agency since the new route is located in mostly residential areas and structures as the owners may offer stiff resistance.

As per the project’s stipulated time, it has to be completed within two years of the launch in July 2022 at a junction point in Kharian. However, the change in the alignment may cause delay in the completion of the project.

An NHA official said as per the serious objection raised by the irrigation department, the previous site of the Chenab bridges could damage the Marala headworks and Sialkot airport.

He was, however, confident that the project could still be completed well in time.

The original motorway design shows six lanes, but the current project is limited to only four lanes -- two lanes on its each side. The main motorway is 60km long, while a 9km-long portion of the four-lane link road (also part of the motorway) will be built to connect M-11 with the GT Road near Bismillah Chowk, Kharian.

Moreover, the project includes five interchanges and a service area, all falling in Gujrat district. Besides, a one-kilometre long bridge over the Chenab linking Sialkot and Gujrat will also be built.

The federal government has to provide the cost of land which is around Rs13 billion, out of the total estimated cost of Rs42 billion for the project whereas the contractor firm -- the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO), will bear the cost of construction.

It is being executed on built, operate and transfer (BOT) mode as a public-private partnership and at least 4,600 acres of land falling in some 64 villages of three tehsils of two districts is to be used in the project.

The M-11 will be expanded up to Islamabad after the completion of Kharian-Sambrial section, to become the shortest route between Lahore and Islamabad.

Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2023