LAHORE, July 15: Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi has announced the construction of two underpasses to link the Punjab University New Campus hostels and academic campus situated on two sides of the canal.

He also announced that two new hostels for girls would be constructed on the New Campus. The decision was taken at a meeting between the chief minister and Governor Khalid Maqbool at the Governor's House on Thursday.

The government late Wednesday night razed eight pedestrian bridges on the New Campus canal. University students had also clashed with the police who resorted to tear-gas shells and injured several students.

Meanwhile, talking to reporters after the convocation of a private institute, the governor said the government had constructed seven underpasses from The Mall to Thokar Niaz Beg to give a thoroughfare to motorists.

He said the previous government had razed the speed-breakers and constructed three overhead bridges. However, it could not complete the project due to change in government. In order to facilitate students, he said, two underpasses would be constructed - one would link girls' hostels with the New Campus while the other would be used by male students and the general public.

He said the CM had also assured that the three overhead bridges already put in place would be covered with fibre glass to protect students from heat and rain. He said the PU would also operate a bus shuttle service from hostels to the New Campus to facilitate students.

He said the students who were arrested by the police on Wednesday night had been released. He said the government would check rash driving on the road. Meanwhile, university students, teachers, employees and the authorities have expressed concern over the demolition of bridges linking hostels with the academic departments.

They also condemned tear-gas shelling, firing and arrest of a number of students. PU registrar Masoodul Haq and students' adviser Prof Dr Niaz Ahmad also called on the governor and informed him that the university authorities were not taken into confidence before taking such a decision. He said the event had affected the peaceful and congenial atmosphere of the campus.