PM lays foundation-stone of Multan-Khanewal Motorway section

PM lays foundation-stone of Multan-Khanewal Motorway section

MULTAN, Oct 1 (APP): Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on Saturday performed ground breaking of Multan-Khanewal section of M4 (Multan-Faisalabad) Motorway project, to be built at a cost of Rs 12.9 billion, which would prove to be a gateway of South Punjab development.The foundation-laying ceremony of 57-kilometre long section of M4 was held at Billiwala area, some 20 kilometres away from here where the Prime Minister also addressed the biggest ever public meeting in South Punjab, which according to PPP leaders was attended by around 100,000 people from across the whole area. The project is expected to be completed in three-year period.  However, according to Federal Minister for Communications Arbab Alamgir, hectic efforts would be made to complete it within two years. The Prime Minister said the motorway would be extended up to Muzaffargarh and then up to Sindh via Lodhran and Bahawalpur. He said the project would revolutionize agriculture, trade and industrial operations and create numerous jobs for the unemployed skilled youth. It would bring South Punjab at par with the developed area of province, he added. The motorway will significantly reduce travelling time.  The travelling time between Faisalabad and Multan will be reduced from four to two-and-a half hours while that between Multan and Rawalpindi will be decreased by 90 minutes. Arbab Alamgir said that the National Highway Authority (NHA) had launched road infrastructure projects worth Rs 15 billion in South Punjab. The M4 was a step forward to building a national trade corridor upto Iran, Afghanistan, and China. NHA Chairman Syed Mohammad Ali Gardezi gave a detailed briefing to the Prime Minister on the project. The 241-kilometre long four-lane motorway project will be completed at a cost of over Rs 47 billion with the financial hlep of the Government of Pakistan, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Islamic Development Bank (IDB). This motorway has been divided into four sections including Faisalabad-Gojra (58 km) for which the Prime Minister had already performed ground breaking and work was in progress. Other sections include Gojra-Shorkot section (62 km), Shorkot-Deenpur-Khanewal section (64 km), and Khanewal-Multan section (57 km).  Two big bridges will be built on the motorway at the points including the Ravi River and Sidhnai channel besides 16 interchanges, as many fly-overs, and 20 under-passes. The extraordinary project is believed to pace up social and economic development besides accelerating the industrial wheel to open up new windows of earning opportunities to the unemployed skilled youth of South Punjab. The modern highway will also promote agri-business in the agriculture rich area that will compete the other developed areas of the country after the implementation of PM’s mega development package. Faisalabad-Multan motorway construction is the part of a dynamic national trade corridor programme to link South Punjab with other motorways. Pakistan has a 12,000-kilometre network of highways comprising motorways, national highways, expressways, and strategic roads, however, they are only 4.6 per cent of the total road network that runs through this area, NHA officials said.  But, around 80 per cent of commercial traffic utilizes this network of highways for speedy transportation of trade goods. Punjab Governor Sardar Latif Khan Khosa, Federal Minister for Communications Arbab Alamgir Khan, Chief Minister Gilgit-Baltistan Syed Mehdi Shah, Incharge PM’s camp office in Multan MPA Syed Ahmad Mujtaba Gilani, MPA Syed Abdul Qadir Gilani, senator Malik Salahuddin Dogar, PM’s media coordinator Khawaja Rizwan Alam, MPA Malik Ahmad Hussain Dehar, MPA Syed Nazim Hussain Shah, MPA Malik Mohammad Amir Dogar, MPA Amir Ghani Maral, MNA Jamshed Dasti, MNA Mehmood Hayat alias Tochi Khan, MNA Iftikhar Nazir, former minister for defence production MNA Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan Jatoi, MNA Diwan Ashiq Hussain Bokhari, MNA Nawab Liaquat Ali Khan, MNA Mohammad Azeem Khan Daultana, MPAA Pir Jamil Shah, MPA Abbas Zafar Haraj, Nawab Hayatullah Khan Tareen, Pir Aslam Bodla, MPA Khalid Saleem Bhatti, Shabbir Qureshi the son of ailing MNA Mohsin Qureshi, Rai Mansab Ali Khan, and other MNAs, MPAs and party leaders and workers from South Punjab were also present.