LAHORE: Friday saw the partial opening of the Kalma Chowk Remodeling Project as Caretaker Chief Minister Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi opened three of the underpass’ five lanes, which connect directly to the Liberty Roundabout and subsequently the Qaddafi Stadium by turning left.

For PSL cricket matches in Lahore beginning on February 26, the inauguration of the Kalma Chowk underpass would guarantee a continuous flow of traffic from Barkat Market (Garden Town) to the Qaddafi Stadium.

“I appreciate the engineers and the contractor for opening the underpass ahead of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) matches,” Mr Naqvi said after he inspected the construction works.

“I hope that the project teams would not close the underpass again on the pretext of the completion of the remaining works of the project, including the first tunnel (underpass), originating from the underpass to reach the central business district main boulevard and other places, the second underpass at Centre Point to connect Ali Zeb Road and reach Firdaus Market and Cavalary, and other works (both main and allied ones,” the caretaker chief minister added.

He said the government would try to provide foolproof security to the PSL events. However, project activities would remain continued. The chief minister directed the project administration to complete the entire project by March 23—the deadline fixed by the government.

The chief minister was briefed that the Kalma Chowk underpass (Barkat Market-Liberty roundabout side) now consists of five lanes after the addition of one lane created for motorists going to the CBD boulevard.

The new lane, called Lane No 5, will be green (for CBD) while Lane No 4 would be blue (toward Firdaus market). The lane one to three are for those heading toward main boulevard, Gulberg.

Work on the Rs5 billion project was launched in the second week of November after the then chief minister, Parvez Elahi, laid the foundation stone on Oct 30 at a ceremony. The project commences from the Kalma Chowk underpass, separating it from the first underpass access to the business district project area and then another underpass while turning towards Firdaus Market (Ali Zeb Road) from Centre Point. Besides, it has several allied at-grade (on ground) development works on Gulberg’s main boulevard, and underground sewerage/drainage upgrade.

The mega scheme will have two underpasses immediately after crossing the Kalma intersection underpass (while heading toward Gulberg from Barkat Market (Garden Town), giving a signal-free access to the motorists to the CBD project area, including Walton and Ali Zeb Road to move toward Firdaus Market and enter Cavalary Ground via Lal Shahbaz Qalandar underpass. The project allows seamless entry to the CBD at Walton while avoiding disruption to the existing traffic in the vicinity.

COMMISSIONER: Commissioner Muhammad Ali Randhawa on Friday issued instructions to the authorities to monitor the ongoing development schemes and their on-time completion.

“The progress of the ongoing development scheme will be reviewed through the digital monitoring system. Approval or review of the development scheme will be done through digital monitoring during the meeting. However, the divisional development working committee will only review the ongoing development schemes,” he said at a meeting.

“The new schemes must be in accordance with the Election Commission’s framework. Before revising the ongoing development schemes, it will be mandatory to attach before and after photos of each scheme,” he said.

OPERATIONS: LDA teams on Friday carried out various operations in Gulberg and demolished an illegal restaurant at Plot No P1 in Gulbarg II. The illegal construction at Plot No D 113 in Gulbarg II was also demolished. In A and B blocks of Gulbarg II and in E 1 block of Gulberg III, 10 commercial properties were sealed over various violations. The sealed properties included banks, marquees, commercial plazas, food points and offices. All the properties were sealed for violating the building regulations, encroachments and absence of parking places.

Published in Dawn, February 25th, 2023