Kashmir Chowk Underpass Opens After 27-Day Build

The government says the quick delivery demonstrates administrative capacity to ease congestion ahead of next year’s Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit.

Overview

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif inaugurated the Kashmir Chowk underpass and opened it to traffic on Thursday, marking the formal completion and public use of the project.
Officials say construction took a record 27 days and cost roughly Rs1.4–1.45 billion, which they report as about 2.5 percent below the original estimate.
Authorities state the contract was awarded through the e-PADS electronic procurement system and that the project was monitored by third parties and the Capital Development Authority.
The works include the underpass plus connecting roads, a roughly four-kilometre road network, two monuments, landscaping and the planting of about 6,340 trees, officials said.
The government presents the underpass as a traffic-relief measure for Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Murree and AJK and part of a wider push of venue and city upgrades before the SCO summit with further reuse and development plans under way.