GPO Chowk to open to traffic by March 31

LAHORE: For providing relief to the citizens, efforts have been geared up for completing necessary work in connection with the construction of underground station for Orange Line Metro Train on The Mall and opening GPO Chowk for traffic by March 31.

Steering Committee for Lahore Orange Line Metro Train Project (LOMTP) Chairman Khawaja Ahmad Hassan said this while talking to the media during a visit to the site on Sunday.

He said that construction of elevated track near Shalimar Gardens had also been completed after Gulabi Bagh and Buddhu’s tomb on GT Road, where construction work had earlier been stopped on restraining order by the court. He said construction of 12 kilometer long elevated portion of the track in Package-I, from Dera Gujjran to Mcleod Road, was near completion as 652 out of the total 670 U-tub girders had so far been launched for construction of viaduct for the train. The remaining girders will also be launched within two days for filling the 200 metre long gap near Laxmi Chowk, he added.

He said 2,000 piles, out of a total of 2,300, had so far been constructed for the structure of GPO Station and barrel-II of the 1.7 kilometre long cut and cover portion of the track from Mcleod Road to Chouburji. A retaining wall has also been constructed for preservation of the tomb of Baba Mouj Derya located near the track, and work for fixing stone on façade of Anarkali Station had been commenced. He said that all the 27 train sets for Lahore Orange Line had been dispatched to Pakistan from China, out of which, 19 had reached here.

PhDs: Punjab University (PU) has awarded PhD degrees to five scholars.

Saima Siddique d/o Muhammad Siddique was awarded PhD in Environmental Sciences after approval of her thesis entitled “Appraisal of Eco Friendly Aspects of Essential Oils of Selected Species of Family Myrtaceae”, Ayesha Arshed Dodhy d/o Muhammad Arshed Dodhy in the subject of Home Economics after approval of her thesis entitled “Relationship of Creative Abilities with Vividness of Imagery in Apparel Design of Fashion Illustration Students”, Ummara Saher d/o Abdul Ghafoor in the subject of Education after approval of her thesis entitled “Comparative Study of Public and Private Sector University Graduates’ Self-perceived Employability, Ambition and Institutional Commitment in the Punjab”, Saadia Basheer d/o Basheer Ahmad in the subject of Biological Sciences after approval of her thesis entitled “Comparative Studies on Recombinant Laccases of Thermophilic (Geobacillus SBS-4S and Mesophilic (Bacillus Strain R5) Origins” and Shehla Honey d/o Muhammad Bukhsh in the subject of Solid State Physics after approval of her thesis entitled “Ion Beam Irradiation-Induced Effects in Metal Nanowires Used for Transparent Electrodes”.