GUJRAT: Land acquisition for construction of Sialkot-Kharian motorway, extension to the Lahore-Sialkot Motorway (M-11), has started after the National Highways Authority (NHA) awarded the contract to the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO).

The 69km long patch will be constructed by the company on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis and it had constructed the M-11 also, official sources in the NHA and the local administration told Dawn.

The contractor firm has been offered the commercial and tolling rights for a certain period that is yet to be ascertained.

The funds for land acquisition would be provided by the government whereas the NHA and the revenue department would jointly complete the acquisition process.

The project is being executed on a public-private partnership (PPP) mode as the contract firm would invest in construction of the two lanes on each side, leaving space for widening of the road’s third lane as per the future requirements, said a senior official, privy to the project.

He said the NHA project director had recently held meetings with the administration of two districts to acquire land in Gujrat, Kharian and Sambrial tehsils.

The extension of the motorway would start from the Sambrial tehsil where the M-11 was earlier concluded.

The project is also aimed at facilitating the overseas Pakistanis for their easy access to the Sialkot International Airport as around five interchanges have been planned on the Sialkot-Kharian motorway within the boundary of Gujrat district. The interchanges at Jalalpur Jattan, Pero Shah, Daulat Nagar, Gulliana and Kharian are a part of the plan whereas a service area and two toll plazas would also be constructed on the route.

The estimated cost of the motorway is around Rs44bn, official sources said and added that the assistant commissioners of Sambrial, Gujrat and Kharian tehsils had been tasked with preparing the initial paper work for launch of the land acquisition for which funds would be provided by the NHA.

The motorway would also pass over the river Chenab and Upper Chenab Canal besides many storm water channels where bridges would be constructed.

As per the procedure of the land acquisition, the assistant commissioners of the respective tehsils would impose the Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act whereas the district price assessment committees, headed by the deputy commissioners, would fix the price.

The contractor firm had already been asked by the NHA to establish its site camp and move machinery to the site.

Published in Dawn, June 18th, 2021