Islamabad: To this effect, any delay will not be tolerated, he added. Some specific date line may be given to contracting firms for strict compliance of mobilization at sites. He was presiding over a high level progress review meeting regarding M-4. The meeting was attended by Chairman NHA Syed Muhammad Ali Gardezi, Additional Secretary Ministry of Communications Mr. Amjad Nazir, Project related officers and representatives of Chinese and Turkish Construction companies.
Addressing the meeting Federal Minister for Communications Dr. Arbab Alamgir Khan termed M-4 a project of prime national importance. This mega project, he said, is planned under National Trade Corridor (NTC) program with the financial assistance of Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Islamic Development Bank (IDB). M-4 will ease traffic load on economic life line N-5, as it will reduce distance between Khanewal and Pindi Bhattian by about 150 Km thereby resulting into huge savings in fuel and vehicle operating cost. Continuing he said, this gigantic project will open new avenues for development of the area during construction phase.
A briefing was also arranged wherein it was apprised that this project has been planned to be divided into sections for speedy execution which include Faisalabad-Gojra 58km, Gojra-Shorkot 62Km, Shorkot-Khanewal 64 Km and lastly Khanewal-Multan 57 Km. 96% land acquisition work has been completed on Gojra-Shorkot section, while land acquisition process on Shorkot-Khanewal section is in progress. Multan-Khanewal section will be funded by Islamic Development Bank. The remaining 3x section will be completed with Asian Development Bank loan amounting to US $900 million. 15x interchanges and 23x flyovers/underpasses are part of this project. Two major bridges at River Ravi and Sidhnai Channel will also be built. The whole project is scheduled to be completed by December 2013.
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