LARKANA, Jan 3: President General Pervez Musharraf will lay the foundation stone of the bridge over the Indus River near Purano-Abad village in Bakrani taluka on January 19. The bridge will link Larkana with Khairpur district.

This was disclosed by Sindh Minister for Power and Relief Haji Altaf Hussain Unar while presiding over a meeting here on Wednesday. The meeting also reviewed arrangements for the scheduled visit of the president.

The project would be completed at a cost Rs.5.14 billion, the meeting was told.

The meeting was attended among others, by the District Nazim of Larkana, Mohammad Bakhsh Arijo, DCO Mohammad Naseer Jamal, EDO Services and Works Mukhtiar Ali Janwari, and EDO Finance Yaseen Shar.

The construction of the bridge would bring a revolutionary change in the living standards of the people settled on both sides of the Indus. Besides boosting economic activities, it would also help increase ratio of trade in date and rice, the minister said. The meeting was told that government had also approved an amount of Rs.13 billion for completion of Sehwan-Ratodero Motorway for which the contract had already been awarded. The meeting decided that construction of Larkana-Mohenjodaro road from Bakrani to Purano-Abad will be completed within one week.

LITERARY GATHERING: The Sindhi Adabi Sangat (SAS), Barani Mughiri branch, Larkana, on Wednesday held a literary sitting with the renowned Sindhi writer and research scholar, Jeeal Oad. Dr Zulfikar Siyal, Secretary General of the Sangat, presided over the sitting.