Work in progress on Lillah-Jhelum dual carriageway

Jhelum Deputy Commissioner Nauman Hafeez has said that work on the Lillah-Jhelum dual carriageway has been expedited after the Punjab government released funds.

Talking to the media during the site visit of the project, he said that work has been expedited after the Punjab government released Rs5 billion. He said that 44 kilometres of work on the Pind Dadan Khan section of the project will be completed in two months after the new funds were released. He said that the Punjab government has so far released Rs7 billion for the project estimated to cost Rs16 billion.

He said that the project will be completed in three phases. In the first phase, he said, work is under way on the Lilla-Pind Dadan Khan section. The official said that in the second phase, work will be started on the Misri Morr-Chotala section and in the third phase, work will be started on the Pananwal-Misri Morr section.

Executive Engineer Highways Qamar Ahmed briefed the deputy commissioner on the ongoing work on the project. The deputy commissioner said that the project will prove a game-changer for the people of the Jhelum district.

He said that certain hurdles slowed down the progress of work on the project but after the release of Rs5 billion by the Punjab government, construction work has been expedited.

Expressing his satisfaction with the pace of work, he said that work on certain sections of the road was in the final stage and will be completed soon. He said that he wanted to complete at least 23-kilometre of the road from Lillah Interchange to Pind Dadan Khan on a priority basis so that traffic congestion could be overcome.

In November last year, former prime minister Imran Khan performed the ground-breaking of the 128-kilometre-long dual carriageway to improve the road infrastructure network in the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 27^th, 2022.