The foundation stone of the 123-kilometre tourism highway from Rawat Pandori Chowk to the three hilly tehsils of Rawalpindi — Kahuta, Kotli Sattian and Murree — and further up to Lohar Topa to Azad Jammu and Kashmir, was formally laid.
The foundation stone of the project was laid surreptitiously a day after The Express Tribune reported that the federal government has halted work on the vital project.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf MNA from Murree Sadaqat Abbasi, Rawalpindi Development Authority Chairman Tariq Murtaza and MPA Latasib Satti along with officials of the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) inaugurated the project at Thoha Khalsa.
The project will cost Rs4.75 billion and in the first phase, Rs1.75 billion has been released for the FWO for construction and Rs600 million for mobilisation.
This highway will also be linked to Kharian, motorway and the Rawalpindi Islamabad link road.
According to officials, this will be an alternative road from Rawalpindi to Muzaffarabad, Murree, Kotli Sattian, Kahuta and Kallar Syedan.
The officials maintained that around a 246-kilometre area on both sides of the expressway would have commercial buildings, plazas, factories, markets, hospitals and educational institutions while large parks would also be set up along the road.
Two hundred thousand trees would be planted on both sides of the road. Benches were to be built besides green areas for the promotion of tourism.
Moreover, automated signals and LEDs for advertisement will also feature throughout the expressway. The 123-km-long road will be completely signal-free.
Addressing the inaugural ceremony, MNA Sadaqat Ali Abbasi and RDA Tariq Murtaza said that work on the road will be started simultaneously at Chowk Pandori, Kotli Satyan and Patriata.
They said that the 123-km-long road will pass through 40 tourist destinations including 35 new tourist destinations.
They said that buildings on both sides of the highway will not be constructed until the construction work was completed.
The construction of the road will also create new employment opportunities in the four hilly tehsils of the district.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 16th, 2022.
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