Daily Times

Chief Minister Punjab Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi on Monday announced the biggest project of development of Punjab from Sutlej to Sindh, and said that a wonderful plan has been devised to connect different cities with the motorway.

“A new chapter of development and prosperity will open for farmers, traders, industrialists and investors. Rs160 billion worth of Sutlej Indus Economic Network Project (SIEN) has been approved for Kasur, Okara, Pakpattan, Vehari, Bahawalnagar, Lodhran, Bahawalpur and it would be completed in different phases. These districts will be connected with motorways, GT roads and Indus Highway,” said the CM, according to a handout.

A meeting was held in the Chief Minister’s Office, in which the SIEN project was approved.

While giving details, the CM explained that in the first phase, the Kasur bypass to Lahore Ring Road G-1 SIEN Corridor will be completed with Rs15 billion. Seven remote districts of Punjab will be connected with M-2, M-3, M-4, M-5 and M-11 motorways. The CM said that access to 49% of commodity-producing markets will be improved through highways. He 3,431 industrial units of food, agriculture and metal products will be promoted in these districts as business activities in nine towns and small towns will be increased.

Pervaiz Elahi said that the North-South Corridor will connect Depalpur, Pakpattan, Vehari, Multan Road, Head Sulemanki Minchinabad, Bahawalpur and Bahawalnagar Road. Changara East Interchange will be connected up to Bahawalpur N-5, he added. Meanwhile, Hasilpur will be connected with Rajana Motorway M-3 through Vehari, Burewala and Chichhwatani.

Chishtian to Burewala and Sahiwal to Samundri link road will be built, he said. Bahawalnagar to Sahiwal will be connected with M-3 Motorway via Arifwala.

SIEN Corridor will also be constructed from Minchinabad to Sahiwal via Pakpattan. Due to the development and creation of employment opportunities in the backward and remote districts, the pressure on the big cities will be reduced, he noted.

Allahabad will be connected to the Jaranwala Interchange M-3 Motorway through Chunian, Pattoki and Halla. Sharqpur Interchange M-3 Motorway will be connected with Raiwind Road Ring Road. The establishment of specialized potato machinery centers in Pakpattan and Okara will provide economic benefits to potato farmers. By installing solar dryers and colour sorters in Bahawalnagar, red chilli farmers will be able to get a better price for the crop. Vehari Industrial Estate will be converted into

Agro-Industrial Park. Economic activities will increase in Kasur Small Industrial Estate and Dry Port. He said that a multi-modal freight terminal will be established in Pakpattan. Agro-industrial parks will be established in Bahawalnagar and Okara, he added.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi expressed deep sense of sorrow and grief over the loss of precious human lives in a traffic accident near Rajanpur.

The CM extended his heartfelt sympathies to the bereaved families and called for a report from the administration. He directed that legal action be taken against the driver responsible for the accident and that the injured should be provided with the best treatment. The government fully shares the grief of the bereaved families, he added.