Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister (PM) Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Saturday will be inaugurating the Multan-Shjuabad section of Sukkar-Multan Motorway (M-5) along with Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Bridge over Indus River.

Earlier a press release was issued from the PM Office stating that the opening of the motorway section will facilitate fast and easy communication between Multan and Shujabad.

The 349 kilometer (km) long Sukkur-Multan Motorway is being constructed under the banner of China Pakistan Economic Corridor’s (CPEC) Karachi-Lahore Motorway Project. The M-5 will be constructed in an estimated cost of Rs 294 billion.

The Sukkur-Multan Motorway chapter commenced in 2016 and is expected to be completed by 2019. The M-5 is planned to be a 6-lane access controlled facility that will be strating from Sukkur all the way to Multan, while crossing several major cities including Ghotki, Rahim Yar Khan, Sadiqabad and Bahawalpur.

The project will also be including construction of several bridges, interchanges and underpasses. The alignment of the paths crosses through the provinces of Punjab and Sindh.

On the other hand, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Bridge over Indus River will be connecting and building a communication link from Zahirpur on Grand Trunk Road (N-5) to Indus Highway (N-55) via Mithankot.

Since there is no crossing on Indus up to Ghazighat which is 50 km from Taunsa barrage, the bridge will be a connecting link facilitating traffic from Karachi, Kashmore on the Western side to the Eastern side to Rahim Yar Khan, Multan, Bahawalpur, Faisalabad and Lahore. The bridge will be a short route from Karachi to Lahore.

The 1.2 km long bridge with 12.2 meter width will surely boost economic growth on both sides of the river. Rather than just decreasing the distance and travel cost of the commuters.t