Urban development: Multan Road widening to be finished in February

NLC and Wasa currently working on sewerage.

LAHORE:

The expansion of Multan Road between Chauburji and Scheme Mor is to be completed by February, provided sewerage work is finished on time, said the project director.

“We will finish the work by January 31, which is the official deadline,” said Project Director Sabir Khan Sadozai. He said apart from the cost of land acquisition, the project would cost Rs805million.

He said that currently the National Logistics Cell (NLC) was working on a central drain that was in two parts: one section from Yateem Khana to Scheme Mor, and the other from Yateem Khana to near Samanabad Mor. This drain would join with the Cantt drain.

Sadozai said that the Water and Sanitation Agency was laying sewerage lines on both sides of Multan Road. He said that both NLC and Wasa had stated that they would complete their work by the end of November. “After that, we will complete the road construction within eight weeks,” he said.

The Multan Road project has caused major travel headaches for local residents, particularly as work on the Metro Bus Service on Ferozepur Road is also ongoing. Multan Road is used by more than 160,000 vehicles every day, said Sadozai.

Two major intersections on Multan Road – Yateem Khana Chowk and Scheme Mor   are to be widened in the ongoing road project. These chowks will have slip-lanes and signal-free corridors. Sadozai said that the slip lanes would be separated from the main road at some distance from traffic signals so that vehicles going straight don’t clog the lane and block the vehicles turning left. He said that the project would leave the road without traffic problems for at least five years.

Officials connected with the project said that 34 kanals had already been bought on both sides of Yateem Khana Chowk, at a cost of Rs700 million, while 27 kanals would be acquired at Samanabad Mor.

Revenue officials said that the government would need to buy an additional 21 kanals   11 in Nawakot and 10 in the revenue limits of Pakki Tatthi   if it were to build a Metro Bus Service lane on Multan Road. The National Engineering Services of Pakistan (NESPAK) and Turkish company Ulasim have already done a feasibility study for an MBS lane on Multan Road.

The officials said that the acquisition of land, normally a painstaking process resisted by residents, had been surprisingly simple in the Yateem Khana Chowk area. They said that much of the land had been owned by Anjuman Himayat-i-Islam. After they agreed a price, they began demolishing their own buildings. “Once that happened, the rest were easy to convince,” said the officials.

They said that owners of land within 50 feet of the road were paid Rs1 million per marla – Rs0.85 million per marla for the land, and Rs0.15 million per marla for construction cost – while owners of land further away from the road were paid 0.84 million per marla   Rs 0.69 million per marla for land, and Rs0.15 million per marla for construction.

The officials said that the government should have purchased the land required for the MBS on Multan Road, as it would have caused less disruption in the area if it were to do so now rather than later. They said that the government had dropped the idea of buying the land immediately some six weeks ago, “due to political interference”.

Earlier work on Multan Road

The expansion of Multan Road began in October 2009 and the section from Thokar Niaz Beg to Scheme Mor, around 7.3 km, has been rehabilitated. The government allocated Rs2.13 billion for works on this section. Some Rs1.66 billion was allocated for land acquisition and relocation of roadside facilities and Rs308 million for a sewerage line. A 72-inch trunk sewerage line 40-foot deep is also being laid at a cost of Rs1.43 billion. The line would address sewerage problems in Canal View Society, Azam Garden, Mustafa Town and other areas between Chungi and Thokar Niaz Beg.

Alongside the 7.3 km stretch of three-lane road, this section has 3 km of service lanes and 80 green belts have been turned into parking stands. Seven taxi stands have been built. Seven pedestrian bridges have been constructed while one is under construction.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 11^th, 2012.