CM lays foundation stone of Rs 3.10 bn Akbar Chowk underpass, flyover project.

LAHORE    -   Caretaker Punjab Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi Tuesday laid the foundation stone of the Rs.3.10 bil­lion Akbar Chowk underpass and flyover project and directed to com­plete it within 90 days. 

The project, spanning a remarkable 700 meters for the flyover and 540 meters for the underpass, is designed to accommodate two lanes of traffic each day, serving the needs of com­muters from Faisal Town, Johar Town, Kot Lakhpat, and other localities. 

The DG LDA provided a compre­hensive briefing to the CM, detailing the project’s key features and bene­fits. It is worth noting that the trans­parent tendering process has yield­ed notable cost savings, amounting to crores of rupees. 

During a media interaction, CM disclosed that an agreement has been finalized with the PCB regard­ing the procurement of lighting equipment. In order to curtail sig­nificant expenses in the future, the decision was made to refrain from renting the lights. He highlighted that a colossal sum of 600 million ru­pees was spent on renting lights last year alone, while this year the cost amounted to 500 million rupees.

Mohsin Naqvi stated that the elections will take place whenever they are ordered, and he made it clear that he did not engage in any vindictive acts. We anticipated that there would be numerous arrests, resulting in the transfer of some detainees to jails in other cities. However, he emphasized that he would not allow any Lahore proj­ects to be stalled because he was a proud citizen of Lahore. 

He also instructed that the Ak­bar Chowk project be completed in 90 days rather than the originally scheduled four months. The project design was inherited from the previ­ous government and was not modi­fied; it has only been launched, and they will try to finish it as soon as possible. He also recognised that, af­ter the Akbar Chowk project, remod­elling of the next Chowk was neces­sary to maintain traffic flow.

The CM maintained that the ex­penditures on the proposed horse and cattle show were too high, and there were no sponsors to shoul­der the expenses. He noted that the cost of Rs.900 million was far too high, especially since there were no sponsors to help offset the ex­penses. On the other hand, the Jashan-e-Baharan event was able to take place thanks to the support of sponsors, and the government did not have to allocate any funds towards it, he added.

He stressed the importance of prioritizing the completion of ongo­ing projects and added that projects that can be finished quickly will re­ceive special attention. For example, the CBD Kalma Chowk remodelling project was scheduled to be com­pleted by March 23, and assistance will also be provided to ensure the timely completion of the canton­ment underpass near Quaid-e-Azam Interchange. However, traffic issues persist due to encroachments, and Commissioner Lahore was actively working to address this problem, he stated and reminded the Lahore Development Authority of its re­sponsibility to ensure that private housing schemes are equipped with the necessary facilities.

Provincial Ministers SM Tanveer, Ibrahim Hasan Murad, Azfar Ali Na­sir, secretary information, commis­sioner and CCPO Lahore, and others were also present.