FAISALABAD, July 8: The Tehsil Municipal Administration (City) has launched a "Faisalabad Road Rehabilitation Project" for the construction and upgrade of 20 main roads of the city at a cost of Rs465 million.

Sources told this correspondent on Friday that the Punjab government had asked the TMA to acquire the services of the Frontier Works Organization and the National Logistic Cell for the project in the wake of allegations of corruption and use of substandard material in the road construction projects against private contractors and the administration's engineering wing.

The FWO and the NLC have initiated a number of projects for which payments are being released to them on a monthly basis. A sum of Rs180 million, including liabilities, will be released to both these agencies during 2004-2005.

A total of Rs40 million would be spent on the construction on the Jhang Road (from Chungi to Morr Altaf Ganj), Rs 40 million each on the Mall Road (from Station Chowk to Chenab Club Chowk); the Circular Road (from Sirwala Rajbah to Gumti Chowk); and the Regal Road (from Sirwala Rajbah to Kotwali Road).

The agencies would also spend Rs45 million on the Tata Bazaar Road while a Railway Road strip between Charterd Bank Chowk and Chiniot Bazaar Chowk would cost Rs35 million.

D-Grounds People's Colony was also being modernized at a cost of Rs38 million while the road between Jhal Chowk and Abdullahpur Chowk would be completed with Rs30 million.

Likewise, Rs20 million each would be spent on the construction of road along Jhal Khanuana, and the Kutchery Road from GTS Chowk to Chenab Club Chowk. The Sahil Hospital Road would be constructed at a cost of Rs15 million while Rs13.50 million would be spent on the Kashmir Road and Rs10 million on the construction of road from Haji Chowk to graveyard.

Around Rs38.5 million are estimated to be spent on completion of Aminpur Bazaar, Al-Masoom Town, Bakar Mandi, Pahariwali Ground, Mehfooz Park, Muhammadi Chowk, and Sarfraz Colony roads.