Pakistan opens underpass built in 27 days — Dawn

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif inaugurated the Kashmir Chowk underpass in Islamabad, whose construction was completed in 27 days. The head of government called the project’s rapid completion a mini-miracle, Dawn reports.

Project parameters

According to Sharif, the 500-metre underpass was built along with a four-kilometre road. The project cost 1.4 billion Pakistani rupees. It was initially estimated at 1.6 billion rupees.

The prime minister said transparency was observed during the contract awarding process. The project also included planting thousands of trees and installing two memorial objects dedicated to Kashmir.

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Traffic and preparations for the summit

Pakistan’s Capital Development Authority reported that before work began, about 107,000 vehicles passed through the Kashmir Chowk intersection. This caused traffic jams, delays and conflict situations in traffic, particularly during peak hours and the movement of VIP motorcades.

Following the opening, traffic from the Faizabad side will travel on the surface above the underpass, while vehicles from the Serena side will take the underground route toward Faizabad. Sharif noted that the facility had to be completed before the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, which Islamabad will host next year.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said the work was monitored by a third party and that construction quality was not compromised for the sake of speed. According to him, 6,340 trees were planted as part of the project.