RAWALPINDI: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on We dnesday directed the authorities concerned to complete the Rawalpindi Ring Road project by December 25 and assured prompt release of funds required to expedite the construction work.

In a surprise visit to the project site, the chief minister conducted an aerial survey of the Rawalpindi Ring Road project from Banth to Thalian to review the performance. CM Maryam said the project was the priority of the provincial government and funds would be ensured for the completion of the project in the stipulated time.

The CM, while referring to the Lahore-Sialkot Motorway, said she wanted quality construction work in line with international standards.`The completion of the 38km-long Rawalpindi Ring Road project will solve the long-standing problem of traffic congestion. The completion of the Rawalpindi Ring Road will also increase business activities and ease of travel for millions of citizens,` she said.

Commissioner Amir Khattak, the project director, gave a detailed briefing to the Punjab CM. The chief minister was informed that five interchanges would be constructed at Banth, Chak Beli Khan, Adiala Road, Chakri Road, and Thalian. Besides this, railway bridges and five overheads would be builtin addition to 21underpasses.

During the briefing, the PML-N local lawmakers complained about the lack of interchanges. The Project Management Unit officials informed them about a strict rule of the Punjab government that bound them to pro-vide access to the government land only, adding that private housing schemes would not be given interchange.

The officials also informed about the lack of funds that had hampered the work. The CM assured the required funds without any delay.

After the meeting, Deputy Project Director Ishfaq Sulheri told Dawn that the Punjab government released Rs3 billion last week.

`Rs12 billion has been released for the project but we have demanded Rs10 billion more to speed up the work,` he said. He said that a total 42 per cent work was completed and the remaining work would be completed by December 25. `We demanded Rs10 billion by June and the Punjab chief minister accepted the demand and we will likely get Rs5 billion by next week,` he said.He said that the Communication and Works Department was supervising the engineering side of the project, adding that they also requested the Punjab CM to send experts to inspect the work.

He said for quality assurance, three checks had been conducted by contractor Frontier Works Organization (FWO), Nespak, and the Project Management Unit (PMU).

In reply to a question about expandingthe scope ofthe project,he said the National Highway Authority (NHA) had started work to expand one lane on both sides of the road from the Motorway Toll Plaza to Srinagar Highway. He said the CM asked them to utilise service roads for the Ring Road traffic. A feasibility study would also be conducted to use the right of way of service roads to further expand to avoid traffic congestion near the toll plaza, he added.