LAHORE, July 2: The construction of the Lahore ring road and widening and improving several link roads will start in a month. This was told to the participants in a meeting which was presided over by Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi here on Friday.

The chief minister directed the officials concerned to maintain international standards while constructing the ring road and improving the link roads like Ravi Road, Ferozepur Road, Multan Road, Canal Bank Road and Jail Road.

The meeting was told that the provincial government had spent Rs5 billion on the construction and improvement of roads in Sargodha, Rawalpindi, Bahawalpur, Multan and Faisalabad during the previous financial year.

The chief minister said a master plan was being made for the construction of new roads as well as improvement of the existing ones in Lahore. He said the ring road would provide better transport facilities to the people. About 14 interchanges would also be constructed on the ring road to facilitate the residents of different localities.

The chief minister said overhead bridges on railway crossings would also be constructed under the ring road project which would be executed at a cost of Rs20 billion.

He said there were around one million registered vehicles in Lahore and their number was increasing rapidly, necessitating the need for expanding the road network in the city. The communication and works secretary explained different aspects of the ring road project.