128 km Lalla-Jhelum road completed after five years in Punjab

The 128 km Lalla-Jhelum road project in Punjab, which began in 2021, has been completed after five years. Daily Pakistan and Nawa-i-Waqt reported the completion on 13 November.

Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz described the project as a gift for the people of Jhelum and Pind Dadan Khan and expressed gratitude on its completion. She praised the Communication and Works (C&W) department and directed that necessary steps be taken for the early completion of the Jhelum-Pind Dadan Khan road.

According to the reports, the project connects Pind Dadan Khan to the Lalla interchange and was built at a cost of 13 billion 53 crore 80 lakh rupees. The two-lane road was widened from 20-24 feet to 76 feet, and paved shoulders are being built on both sides to support traffic flow and the strength of the road.

The work was carried out in five sections: GT Road to Bukhari Road, Bukhari Chowk to Massri Morr, Massri Morr to Pannan Wala Jalalpur, Pannan Wala to Pind Dadan Khan, and Pind Dadan Khan to Lalla.

The road includes two bypasses: a 4.2 km Jalalpur bypass and a 3.98 km Pind Dadan Khan bypass. The project also covers the construction of 185 small bridges, while work on three culverts will be completed soon. The section from Bukhari Chowk to Massri Morr has five bridges.

Speaking about road building in the province more widely, Maryam Nawaz Sharif said, in a statement translated from Urdu: "Thousands of kilometres of roads are not merely being built in Punjab; the history of communications is being written. For the first time in the province, the construction, expansion and rehabilitation of 35,000 km of link roads is a record."