Urban development: LDA approves Rs3b project for signal-free Qurtaba Chowk

Governing body also approves LED street lights for 15 roads.

LAHORE:

The Lahore Development Authority (LDA) has approved the construction of a signal-free junction at Qurtaba Chowk, Mozang, at a cost of Rs3 billion in view of the increasing number of traffic jams there, according to a press release issued after a meeting of the LDA governing body here on Thursday.

The project will start once construction of the Metro Bus Service is complete, said the LDA statement.

The LDA also approved of the dualisation or expansion of the road along Cantonment Drain from the LOS stop on Ferozepur Road to Multan Road, known locally as Nalay Wali Sarak, and the construction of missing links, at a cost of Rs524 million.

A project for the installation of LED lights on 15 major roads at a cost of Rs339 million was also approved.

The LDA officials concerned were not available to give the details for these projects.

Compensation

The LDA governing body also decided compensation for the families of two brothers, Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) workers Heera Masih and Danish Masih, who were killed due to poisonous gas inhalation while cleaning sewer lines.



Their father Nazir Masih, also a sanitation worker, will be promoted to assistant supervisor in BS-3, while their brother Amanat Masih and Heera’s widow Rabia will get jobs as sanitation workers. They will also be paid compensation of Rs400,000.

The governing body approved payment of Rs6.6 million for the liver transplant of a junior clerk’s son. Khalid Mehmood, son of Muhammad Sharif, was operated on in India.

The LDA approved revised conveyance allowances for employees as notified by the Finance Department. It sanctioned a proposal for the construction of 20 houses for LDA employees of grades 1-11 in Jubilee Town.

It decided to set up two new sub-divisions in the Wasa Operations and Maintenance Wing.



The governing body raised the quota for promotion to grade 16 of sub-engineers with diplomas from 25 per cent to 33 per cent; changed the nomenclature for the posts of junior accountant, accounts clerk and junior draftsman; and decided to waive the National Testing Service exam requirement for the posts of directors (Planning and Development), director (Recovery) and female medical officer in Wasa.

The governing also set up a selection committee for hiring a director for computer services on contract. The committee will be headed by the LDA director general and include experts from the Punjab Information Technology Board, the University of Engineering and Technology and the Punjab University College of Information Technology.

District Coordination Officer and LDA Chairman Noorul Amin Mengal chaired the meeting.

LDA Vice Chairman Amir Asgher Dar, Wasa Vice Chairman Haji Muhammad Sharif, LDA Director General Ahad Khan Cheema, Additional Director General (Headquarters) Mariam Kayani, Additional DG (Housing) Muhammad Usman, Traffic Engineering and Planning Agency Chief Engineer Saeed Akhter, LDA Chief Engineer Asrar Saeed, Chief Town Planner Chaudhry Muhammad Akram, and representatives of the Local Government, Housing, Planning and Development and Finance Departments as well as the nine constituent towns of the city also attended the meeting.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 7^th, 2012.