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LAHORE, Aug 9: Work on the Lahore Rapid Mass Transit System will be started in July next year, says Planning and Development Board chairman Salman Ghani.
The ring road and the mass transit system will go together from Shama Chowk to Hadyara Drain, Mr Ghani told participants in a feasibility study seminar, organised by the Punjab Transport Department at the Royal Palm Golf Country Club on Wednesday.
Economic development of a country, he said, depended on the performance of its urban areas. Provision of infrastructure had been the integral part of the government strategy to make cities more efficient. Lahore had its own economic entity and the potential to grow further. Launching of projects like the ring road and the rapid mass transit system was part of the government plan to make cities dynamic.
Punjab transport secretary Agha Nadeem said the first phase of the rapid mass transit system would be operational by the year 2010-11. Some 35 trains would operate on two northward and as many southward tracks from Shahdara to Yohanabad with the capacity to carry 30,000 passengers in an hour on both sides.
The first phase mass transit system would be elevated from Shahdara to Bhati Chowk from where it would be underground up to Qurtaba intersection. The trains would run on a bridge from Ichhra up to Yohanabad.
The system would create 3,000 jobs on a permanent basis, he said.
There would be some 60 stopovers with interchange stations at Data Darbar, Jinnah Hall, Qurtaba intersection, Kalma Chowk, Chauburji and the Lahore railway stations after the completion of all the four phases of the project.
Later, project manager Mazhar Iqbal explained salient features of the feasibility study to the participants.
PROJECTS REVIEWED: Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi on Wednesday said the government was attaching top priority to poverty alleviation, removal of backwardness and provision of basic amenities in south Punjab.
Besides provision of urban facilities in 21 tehsils of six districts of the region, the Southern Punjab Basic Urban Services Project was also being speedily implemented in the area, which, he said, had accelerated development activities and generated job opportunities for the local population.
He was presiding over a meeting at his secretariat which reviewed the project implementation. Chairman Planning and Development Suleman Ghani, Secretary Local Government Akhlaq Ahmad Tarrar, Special Secretary Finance Azmat Ali Ranjha, Project Coordinator Bashir Ahmad Qureshi, Member Colonies Tariq Yousaf and other senior officials were also present.
The tehsils where the Rs7.5 billion project had been launched include Bahawalpur, Ahmadpur Sharqia, Hasilpur, Yazman, Khairpur Tameywali, Dera Ghazi Khan, Taunsa, Khanewal, Kabirwala, Mian Channu, Jahanian, Multan City, Jalalpur Pirwala, Qadirpur Ran, Shujabad, Muzaffargarh, Alipur, Jatoi, Kot Addu, Rajanpur, Jampur and Rojhan.
The project was aimed at improvement of water supply, drainage as well as sanitation system in the area. Water treatment plants were being installed and link roads constructed, while the solid waste management system was also being improved. The provincial government and tehsil municipal administrations were implementing the project in a coordinated manner.
The chief minister said the government would continue to provide funds to south Punjab more than the ratio of its population so as to ensure provision of basic amenities to the people.
