Setting deadline: Swat Expressway to open in May
K-P CM, federal communications minister agree to further extend the motorway project
Representational image. PHOTO: REUTERS
PESHAWAR:
Swat Expressway, a flagship project of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has been marked for opening from May.
According to an official statement Chief Minister Mahmood Khan in a meeting with Federal Minister for Communication Murad Saeed decided to open the motorway for all sort of vehicular traffic. The project will be inaugurated on May 1, the statement said.
The meeting which took place at the Ministry for Communication Islamabad was also attended by the National Highways Authority Chairman Jawad Rafique Malik, Frontier Works Organisation Director General Maj Gen Inam Haider Malik, Pakhtunkhwa Highways Authority MD, Secretary Communication and Works, Secretary Irrigation, Project Director Swat Motorway and others.
The meeting reviewed the pace of progress on the Swat Motorway and exchanged views about the project. The meeting expected that the motorway would be ready by April therefore it decided to hold the inaugural ceremony for vehicular traffic on May 1.
The meeting thoroughly debated the extension of Swat Motorway and agreed to extend it for the integration of the whole Malakand division with the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The meeting also agreed to open Kohat to DI Khan road for all vehicular traffic soon in the best public interest.
According to FWO, the construction of an 81km long four lanes Swat Expressway in the remote area of K-P is expected to become a transformative step for the province, generating tremendous benefits for its people.
The route will be contributing towards development of the region. The motorway will connect Karnal Sher Khan Interchange on M-1 with Chakdara, tunnelling its way through the mountain at Palai and Ala Dhand areas.
Two kilometres of the road fall in Nowshera district, 18 kilometres in Swabi district, 40 kilometres in Mardan and 21 kilometres in Malakand.
The total right of way (ROW) of the expressway is 80 metres. According to FWO website, work is in full swing and will be complete by April 2019. The project was started in April 2017 with a cost of Rs34 billion.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 31st, 2019.
Swat Expressway, a flagship project of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has been marked for opening from May.
According to an official statement Chief Minister Mahmood Khan in a meeting with Federal Minister for Communication Murad Saeed decided to open the motorway for all sort of vehicular traffic. The project will be inaugurated on May 1, the statement said.
The meeting which took place at the Ministry for Communication Islamabad was also attended by the National Highways Authority Chairman Jawad Rafique Malik, Frontier Works Organisation Director General Maj Gen Inam Haider Malik, Pakhtunkhwa Highways Authority MD, Secretary Communication and Works, Secretary Irrigation, Project Director Swat Motorway and others.
The meeting reviewed the pace of progress on the Swat Motorway and exchanged views about the project. The meeting expected that the motorway would be ready by April therefore it decided to hold the inaugural ceremony for vehicular traffic on May 1.
The meeting thoroughly debated the extension of Swat Motorway and agreed to extend it for the integration of the whole Malakand division with the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The meeting also agreed to open Kohat to DI Khan road for all vehicular traffic soon in the best public interest.
According to FWO, the construction of an 81km long four lanes Swat Expressway in the remote area of K-P is expected to become a transformative step for the province, generating tremendous benefits for its people.
The route will be contributing towards development of the region. The motorway will connect Karnal Sher Khan Interchange on M-1 with Chakdara, tunnelling its way through the mountain at Palai and Ala Dhand areas.
Two kilometres of the road fall in Nowshera district, 18 kilometres in Swabi district, 40 kilometres in Mardan and 21 kilometres in Malakand.
The total right of way (ROW) of the expressway is 80 metres. According to FWO website, work is in full swing and will be complete by April 2019. The project was started in April 2017 with a cost of Rs34 billion.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 31st, 2019.