Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar inaugurated the Gulab Devi Underpass and announced to name it after Abdul Sattar Edhi.
The full height three-lane underpass would ease the movement of 1.32 lakh plus vehicles while six crore rupees have been saved through transparent tendering.
The CM said the facility would also benefit the patients of Gulab Devi, Children, Social Security and General Hospital patients while accommodating the lakhs of citizens in their daily movement.
Federal Minister and PTI Punjab President Shafqat Mahmood, Provincial Ministers Murad Raas, Mian Aslam Iqbal, Asad Khokhar, Ejaz Alam, parliamentarians, PTI leaders, SACM Hasaan Khawar, IG police, commissioner and DC Lahore, secretary information and others were also present.
Talking to the media, the CM said the Gulberg to jail road (Siddique Trade Center) flyover has also been named after poet Munir Niazi. The Abdul Sattar Edhi Underpass has been completed two months before the deadline for which DG LDA and governing body members deserve accolades, he added and pointed out that the ceremony has been held in the underpass to save public money. The Punjab government has also saved millions of rupees in every project by ensuring transparency, he asserted.
The CM announced an elevated expressway project valuing 50 billion to facilitate the citizens of Lahore. Similarly, Rs. 6.50 billion would be spent to construct multilevel entry and exit points at Shahdara Morr to resolve traffic congestion there, he added. The LDA has, meanwhile, completed four major projects in Lahore with 2.45 billion including the Lal Shehbaz Qalandar underpass, Bab-e-Lahore, elimination of traffic congestion points at major roads and construction of pedestrians’ bridges at suitable places to ease public movement. Meanwhile, more than 9.16 billion rupees were being spent to complete three major projects in the provincial metropolis, he said. An additional lane was being built at Lahore bridge near children hospital, Data Ganj Bakhsh flyover with 4.90 billion and 2.54 billion would be spent on Shahkam Chowk Flyover project, he added.
Alongside, the expansion of Sagian Road will be completed with 3.40 billion and the main boulevard Gulberg to Walton Road Defense Chowk will be made a signal-free corridor with three billion rupees. He added that an underpass and flyover at Karim block Iqbal Town will be built with 2.90 billion.
The CM pointed out that the orange line metro train project was also completed by the incumbent government by arranging necessary funding as like other incomplete projects of the previous government.
The past government conceived projects without caring for the welfare of the people and subsidies to the tune of billions of rupees had to be given to run them, he lamented.
The public transport scheme should have been finalized after proper study. Around billion of rupees were being given to six projects as subsidies including orange line metro train, metro bus system and feeder route system, he further said and pointed out the income of these projects was minimal.
