Prime Minister Imran Khan has stated that long-term planning is required for urban centers that would result in improved cities’ management, public service delivery and revenue generation. He said this while chairing a meeting on road projects aimed at reducing vehicular traffic burden of Lahore city.
The Prime Minister said that Lahore city has huge potential for generating revenue and emphasized on utilizing prime urban lands that are presently unutilized and are only “dead capital”. He added that revenue generated from prime locations can be utilized for public welfare schemes.
The Prime Minister suggested that other urban projects in Lahore be operated on Public –Private Partnership mode on the lines of Ravi Urban Development and Central Business District projects.
The meeting was briefed regarding Punjab Government’s “Elevated Expressway from Main Boulevard Gulberg to M2 Motorway” project. It was informed that elevated expressway would provide an East-West route to commuters of Lahore and it is aimed at decreasing the huge burden of vehicles on existing roads. It was apprised that Punjab Government has previously invested Rs. 5 billion on the project and the total cost of the project is estimated to be Rs. 61 billion with a completion time of 15 months. The project will save an average time of 30 minutes on the route and will have a capacity of 73,000 vehicles per day.
The meeting was attended by Federal Ministers Shaukat Tareen, Shafqat Mehmood, Asad Umar, Fawad Hussain and SAPM Dr. Shehbaz Gill.
Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar, Punjab Provincial Ministers and senior officers joined the meeting via video link.
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