CM breaks ground on Swat Motorway P-II

Says CRBC approved to make K-P self-sufficient in wheat production

PESHAWAR:

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister Mahmood Khan on Thursday performed the ground breaking of Swat Motorway Phase-II near Chakdara interchange.

The 88-km Swat Motorway Phase-II starting from Chakdara and culminating at Fatehpur will be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs36.404 billion.

Motorway would have four lanes but it could be extended to six lanes in the future. As many as 9 interchanges at various sites and eight bridges on the River Swat would be constructed under the project.

Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister termed Swat Motorway Phase-II as a flagship project for the sustainable development of the area and said that the project on completion would prove to be a masterpiece of road communication.

The chief minister also laid the foundation stone for the construction of Sanam Dam at Asbanr, Dir Lower, which would be completed at an estimated cost of Rs2 billion.

Sanam Dam, with a designed discharge capacity of 10 cusecs, would cultivate a command area of 2,150 acres. The chief minister termed these projects of vital importance for the food security of the province, adding that the Chashma Right Bank Canal (CRBC) project has also been approved.

He said that upon completion CRBC would irrigate around four lakh acres of land.

Khan said that K-P mostly depends on other provinces in terms of agricultural produce and that is why the provincial government is working to make the province self-sufficient.

He also inaugurated the newly established Chakdara Bypass Road and Special Education Complex Chakdara which have been completed at a total cost of Rs540 million.

Similarly, he performed the ground breaking of a Public Park Chakdara, BS Block at Government Degree College, Gulabad and stadium at Asbanr.

The CM also performed the ground breaking of Burn & Trauma Centre, Thalassemia Centre and Cardiology Unit at District Headquarter Hospital Batkhela which would be completed at an estimated cost of Rs1.212 billion.

The chief minister said that the Burn/Trauma Centre, Thalassemia Centre and Cardiology Unit are the first ever facilities in the entire division, adding that almost 0.721 million population of district Malakand and 1.953 million population of districts Dir Lower, Dir Upper, Bajur and Swat would be facilitated by the project.

Khan also laid the foundation stone of Government Degree College and a Public Library at Batkhela.

While addressing public gatherings in Adenzai and Batkhela, the chief minister said that Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif is a ‘certified bandit’ who has embezzled the funds of flood and earthquake affectees.

The time of Fazlur Rehman is well past and now his son is involved in making money by taking commissions on contracts and postings and transfers of officials.

The chief minister regretted that decisions are being made in London and a fugitive has been entrusted with the future of Pakistan, adding that the patriotic people of this country should have the right to decide the destiny of the nation.

Khan reiterated that people from Malakand Division will participate with full strength in the “real independence march” in order to rid the country of incompetent rulers.

The chief minister said that his government believes in investment in human capital and for this purpose multiple projects are being executed.

He said that development activities are in full swing in the province despite the financial constraints created by the ‘imported’ government.