A tender for construction of Kohsar Tourism Highway, a game changer project to connect the historical cultures of Kohsar and Potohar region, has been issued.
The completion period of this mega project to reconstruct 123 km-long road would be two and a half years. The government in federal budget 2021-22, had allocated Rs 4.5 billion under PSDP while Rs 1.75 billion was released for the current financial year. According to Member National Assembly (MNA) Sadaqat Ali Abbasi, the construction of the Kohsar Tourism Highway would not only reunite the Potohar and Kohsar civilizations, but also open up new avenues of employment and business opportunities in the region due to tourism and commercial activities.
New tourist destinations of Kalar Syedan, Kahuta, Murree and Kotli Sattian would be highlighted which would help open up immense investment and business opportunities for the domestic and international tourism industry in the region.
Sadaqat Ali Abbasi said that the construction of Kohsar Tourism Highway would also help reduce the traffic congestion on Murree Raod and an alternative route would be available for Kashmir and Northern Areas from Rawalpindi and Islamabad.
The five major roads connecting Azad Kashmir to Islamabad and other parts of Pakistan would be linked to the Tourism Highway, saving significant time and travel cost for private and defense transport traveling in the region and different parts of Kashmir. The route would help save huge travelling cost worth billions of rupees annually, he added.
With the opening of new tourist destinations and employment opportunities, migration from the region of Kohsar and Potohar to the suburbs of Rawalpindi and Islamabad would also significantly reduce, which would also decrease the increasing burden on these urban areas, he said.
The project going to be launched as per vision of the present government and public representatives and this visionary and mega project would significantly increase the overall revenue of the region.
The increase in tourism, trade, business and travel activities in five tehsils of the region would help increase the revenue of all the tehsils and local governments. The project would not only help in overcoming backwardness and lack of facilities in the region but it would also help fulfill the desire to give the region an administratively separate place and identity, Sadaqat Ali Abbasi said.
The Expressway would start from Rawat, Pandori Chowk, enabling travelers to journey all the way to Lower Topa to Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
Upon completion, the road is set to be touted as the new ‘tourism corridor’ between Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), and Galiyat.
Sadaqat Ali Abbasi said that all the properties along the road would be commercialised and that the realisation of the project would make the construction of four-to-eight-storey high earthquake-proof commercial plazas possible. He said educational institutions, industrial zones, modern parks, and picnic points would also be built along the highway.
Abbasi said that the road would be the longest one in the Potohar region, and the government is planning to plant a large number of fruit-bearing and flowering trees along the entire route.
Moreover, automated signals and LEDs for advertisement would also feature throughout the expressway.
Sadaqat Ali Abbasi expressed hope that installation of symbolic monuments along the road would help promote and depict the collective cultures of Potohar and Kohsar in all their glory.