RAWALPINDI: Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed has said that the Punjab government has allocated Rs55 billion for the Leh Expressway project in the 2021-22 financial year, announcing that the construction will begin this year.
“The federal government under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan has presented a historic budget by giving relief to the poor and middle-class segments of the society and is striving hard to arrest inflation,” he said Sunday.
It may be mentioned that 1,604 houses fall in the right of way of Leh Expressway and 1,279 kanals is to be acquired: 1,035.9 kanals of private land, 132.4 kanals owned by Military Engineering and Works, 54.7 kanals owned by Chaklala Cantonment Board and 56 kanals owned by Rawalpindi Cantonment Board.
He said the project will be completed under a public-private partnership and the constructions will begin after completing the tendering procedures.
Rawalpindi Development Authority has approved a proposal for Leh Nullah Expressway and sent it to the Public-Private Partnership Authority, Punjab.
The project will be completed in two years, and the expressway will be constructed on both sides of Leh Nullah.
In February, the prime minister issued directions to immediately start work on the project, which will contribute towards the transformation of Rawalpindi.
Zoning of the area concerned and changes in relevant bylaws should also be completed so that commercial and multi-storey buildings can be constructed along both sides of the Leh Expressway.
Rasheed said that the project would be a game-changer for the garrison city and would help ease traffic congestion.
The project would also help control flash flooding problems during torrential rains.
The minister informed that the government has presented a historic budget in which no new tax was levied and the poor and middle-class was provided special concessions.
Duty on several imported items, in particular, was abolished which would help reduce the inflation and the citizens would get relief, he added.
Inflation is a major challenge for the government which has presented a number of proposals in the budget to control the price hike.
Terrorism in Lahore was aimed at creating an atmosphere of unrest in Pakistan, he said.
