Work on Leh Expressway likely to start in 2020-21

Aviation minister says Rs79b allocated for the project

RAWALPINDI:

The Federal Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar confirmed that the Islamabad and Rawalpindi Ring Road projects as well as the Leh Expressway will be constructed in the fiscal year 2020-21.

While talking to The Express Tribune on Saturday, the minister said that the formal approval for starting all three road projects has been given. He added that the mega projects will cost Rs180 billion, adding that the foundation stone for all three of them would be laid in the next six months.

Sarwar informed that the funds worth Rs50 billion each for the Rawalpindi Ring Road and Islamabad Ring Road projects have been earmarked in the budget.

He said that the cost of Leh Expressway has been calculated to be around Rs79 billion under a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis, adding that the funds for it have been already allocated as well. The minister informed that a ban has been placed on new construction along Leh Express site while the identification process for land acquisition has also been completed.

Earlier, speaking at the oath taking ceremony of the Corona Tiger Force at Rawalpindi Arts Council, Sarwar said that the volunteers of the force were giving their resources and time to the nation in difficult and unfavourable situation to serve the suffering humanity during pandemic without any greed.

The minister said that due to timely government initiatives and planning, the public health system was strengthened and further mobilized. Due to this, there has been a significant reduction in deaths due to corona in Pakistan and the recovery rate has been better than the rest of the world.

Sarwar said that the coronavirus epidemic has wreaked havoc on the world economy but despite all the problems, the PTI government has allocated Rs650 billion in the federal budget for development projects.

He said that the PTI government by approving the Leh Expressway and Ring Road projects for the people of Rawalpindi has done in less than 35 months what previous governments could not do in 35 years. He said that each of the two projects is worth more than Rs50 billion and work on the Leh Expressway project would start in the same financial year.

Sarwar said that the world's largest social protection program of Rs. 150 billion has been launched under the Ehsas Kifalat program under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan during the Corona epidemic. He said that Tiger Force has been working for the control of coronavirus since Ramazan.

He said that the administration of Rawalpindi has played a vital role in controlling corona and it deserves great praise. Waseeq Qayyum Abbasi, Member Provincial Assembly, said that according to an internationally renowned economist, Pakistan will be one of the five largest economic powers in the world by 2030, mainly due to its large number of youth.

Additional input by APP

Published in The Express Tribune, July 5^th, 2020.