SACM Firdous Ashiq Awan terms Lal Shahbaz Underpass 'Firdous Underpass'

Special Assistant to Chief Minister Punjab on Information Firdous Ashiq Awan has termed the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar Underpass  "Firdous Underpass."

The underpass is located near Firdous Market, however, its name is Lal Shahbaz Underpass and it was inaugurated today after months of work.

Awan, in a tweet on Thursday, said that Chief Minister of Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar's "tireless" work had finally produced results.

"The Firdous Underpass — built to connect the hearts of the people and facilitate transportation — is a unique gift for Lahoris from the Punjab government," she stated in a tweet.

It is not clear whether she was unaware of the name or simply wanted to refer to it by the name of the nearby Firdous market.

The project

The estimated cost of the underpass is nearly a billion rupees, CM Buzdar said in an Instagram post, adding that traffic would now flow from Centre Point Gulberg to MM Alam Road and Cavalry Ground.

The chief minister said that the underpass would benefit nearly a hundred thousand people daily.

Meanwhile, the delay in the construction of the underpass had become a constant point of criticism for the Punjab government as the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) failed to implement the project completion timelines.

The project’s civil works were formally started in the first week of June after the CM Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar laid its foundation stone on May 18, 2020. The project was to be completed in 120 days (August 18, 2020).

However, it took a couple of months more to complete the project, and in the process, chief minister Buzdar had expressed his displeasure at the slow pace of work.