Shahbaz orders fresh feasibility study on Nullah Leh Expressway

[Salman]

Rawalpindi : Punjab Chief Minister Mian Mohammad Shahbaz Sharif has directed the city district government to prepare a fresh feasibility study on the Nullah Leh Expressway, converting it into another mega project related to traffic control plan.

Credible sources told ‘The News’ here on Monday that as per directions of the Punjab chief minister, the city district government has directed the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) to start work on the feasibility study. According to sources, the original plan of the Nullah Leh Expressway has completely been changed and now it would only focus on reducing traffic load on Benazir Bhutto Road.

In this connection, a high-level consultancy meeting was held under the chair of DCO Captain ® Saqib Zafar and attended by consultants of different firms, the RDA director general and other government officials besides the local parliamentarians, including MNA Shakil Awan and MPA Sheharyar Khan.

During the meeting, sources said, it was decided that a new road starting from the Liaquat Bagh channel would be constructed that would connect different routes. According to the new plan of the project, work on improvement of traffic flow would be carried out, while work on improvement of Nullah Leh has been abandoned.

The Leh Expressway Project was announced some seven years ago by former president General Pervez Musharraf, which was later named Sheikh Rashid Expressway, with an estimated cost of Rs22 billion. The objective of the plan was to overcome the problem of floods caused by Nullah Leh during monsoon seasons in addition to the component of traffic plan. More than 10 flyovers were to be built at different points of Rawalpindi under the component of traffic suspension control. Unfortunately, the project could not be implemented during the tenures of previous and present governments.

However, the Punjab chief minister has reportedly decided to implement the traffic control component of the project.PML-N MNA Shakil Awan and DCO Saqib Zafar have confirmed the report, saying that work on the feasibility study is being carried out according to the directives of the Punjab chief minister.

Shakil Awan said that he has been able to get sanctioned a huge amount of Rs5 billion from the Punjab chief minister for restarting work on the Nullah Leh Expressway with changes in it. The consultant is working on the component of traffic control and its report would be submitted to the Punjab chief minister for approval.

DCO Saqib Zafar also confirmed that work on the feasibility study is underway to implement the traffic control plan. According to the new plan, roads would be built from Liaquat Bagh’s Nullah Leh crossing connecting different points of the city. It would end traffic suspensions on Benazir Bhutto Road. He also confirmed that work on the Nullah Leh improvement has been given up due to certain reasons and restrictions coming under the way of the project.