PESHAWAR, Oct 19: NWFP Governor Lt-Gen Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah has asked officials to complete the widening and repair of Khyber Road, from Rehman Baba Square to Mombatti Square, by Jan 1.

At a meeting at the Governor’s House here on Friday, he was briefed about the pace of work on the project. He was told that work on the boundary walls on the two sides of the road, as well as the laying of the drainage system, was in progress.

Moreover, unnecessary constructions were being demolished and compensation was being paid for the private property used for the road’s widening. The estimated cost of the project was initially negotiated to be Rs61.2 million.

However, it could go up because of certain improvements in the project. The governor said the government would provide funds for development schemes indispensable for public welfare and ensure that they were used judiciously.

As Khyber Road could become a main artery linking Jamrud Road, he suggested that the road be designed with future requirements in mind. Preliminary work for the flyovers to be located on the road must be done.

Slip roads and service roads should be built to ensure the smooth flow of traffic on Warsak and Shami Roads.

During peak hours vehicular traffic is heavy on Warsak Road while Mombathi Square at the confluence of Peshawar Cantt, University Road and Khyber Road comes under heavy vehicular traffic during the day.

The governor called for a suitable solution to this traffic hazard, as well as for new arrangements for the lighting of Khyber Road. The poles uprooted from it should be erected at the ring road and other such areas where required.

The governor gave the district Nazim and the head of Peshawar Municipal and Development Authority freedom to carry out development work according to the devolution plan.

The provincial government had initiated projects to rectify the heavy rush of vehicular traffic, to widen Khyber Road and to beautify the Peshawar city.

In the future, he said, any development activity in Peshawar would be the job of the district government, as it would be in other districts .

The provincial government would help when needed. Resources would be allocated to the district governments to carry out the projects .

The governor clarified that the newly-established Peshawar Municipal and Development Authority would not come under the purview of provincial government.

It would be a part of the city government system and would be responsible for all development and beautification activities to be undertaken by the city district government.

The Peshawar Municipal Corporation and PDA no longer exist, he reported. Both institutions had merged into an entity which would undertake development and sanitation activities common to four town committees of the Peshawar city government. They could involve the private sector in any future activity.

The beautification and development of Peshawar, the regularization of Kutcha Abadis and construction on the ring road and other projects on the ring road would be carried out without compromising the quality of work, he said.

He spoke of some projects in the pipeline for the beautification of Peshawar that needed to be redesigned.

The role given to NESPAK also needed to be looked into for progress to continue without delay, he said.—PPI