Islamabad
About 98 percent work of under-construction bridge over the Indus River linking two important cities of south Punjab, Layyah and Taunsa has been accomplished and the project is likely to be completed very soon, an official of National Highway Authority told APP on Monday.
The bridge is located in between Layyah, east bank of the Indus River and Taunsa, the west bank of the river in D G Khan district. Scope of the project includes two lane approach roads and training works. Work on the Rs2690 million project had started in February 2018 as ECNEC had given approval of the project in October 2017.
Due to the absence of a proper river-crossing between the two cities, the only two links available are D I Khan-Darya Khan Bridge located 88 km upstream of the project site and Taunsa Barrage located about 52km downstream, said the NHA official. Presently no bridge provides link between Layyah and Taunsa, the residents of both the cities are facing immense difficulties as they have to travel 100km by road from Layyah to Taunsa or vice versa.
A direct route through the bridge would help reduce the distance between the two cities by up to 50km from 120km through Taunsa Barrage currently. The NHA official said the flow of traffic from east to west would be facilitated by providing a link between Indus Highway (North-South Corridor) and Pindi Bhattian- Multan Motorway ( M-4).—APP
