The government is paying special attention to development of high quality infrastructure in road sector with focus on construction of new roads and widening of existing roads.
Punjab Communication and Works (C&W) Minister Chaudhry Zaheer-ud-Din Khan said this while presiding over a high level meeting here on Monday, disclosed an official. Punjab C&W Secretary Muhammad Ahsan, Additional Secretary (Technical) Javed Akhtar Lodhi, chief engineers highways (North and South), superintending engineers and other concerned officers also attended the meeting.
The C&W secretary informed the minister that the provincial road assets have increased from 40,000 km to over 77,232 km during the last five years and estimated value of road assets exceeded Rs 200 billion. In the recent years, the overall demand for road transport has grown at seven to eight percent per annum, he added.
He apprised that the ever-increasing demand for additional road links in the province has intensified the need to augment existing road densities.
The minister was informed that Rs 14.3 billion has been allocated during the current fiscal year and a target for the construction of 700 km new roads and widening 7,600 km existing roads has been fixed. Additional funds for the mega projects like Lahore Ring Road and Lahore-Sialkot Motorway have been earmarked.
Chaudhry Zaheer-ud-Din urged the officers of C&W department to ensure timely completion of schemes and utilisation of quality material. He warned that strict action would be taken against the supervisory officers who failed to complete the projects within stipulated period.