LAHORE, Oct 27: Land acquisition for the 77 kilometre ring road will commence as soon as the ongoing survey for its construction is completed.

District Nazim Mian Amer said this while presiding over a meeting held for the review of the ring road construction project attended by the representatives of the Lahore Development Authority, TEPA and other government departments associated with the project.

The Nazim directed that all the conditions prescribed for the land acquisition should be completed and a suitable space should be provided for service areas, truck stands, filling stations and other requirements on both sides of the road. Incentives should be given to the private sector for the provision of necessary highway services.

He said the survey for the construction was already in progress and would be completed shortly. He said a 500-foot area on both sides of the 200-foot wide ring road alignment was being surveyed. One-thousand feet area was being surveyed on each side of the proposed road alignment in the already developed housing colonies.

He said a much larger area was being surveyed at the points where seven interchanges and five flyovers were proposed to be built as every interchange would have a diameter of 4,000 feet.

He said an authority comprising the Punjab Planning and Development Board chairman, provincial finance and communications and works secretaries, LDA director general, TEPA chief engineer, city district government representatives and a financial expert from private sector had been created to execute the ring road project.

He said the areas along the ring road had been declared controlled and restrictions had been imposed on all kinds of construction, digging of earth and cutting of trees.— Reporter