Swat Expressway ready up to Dhobian, not Katlang

PESHAWAR: Though Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak inaugurated the incomplete Swat Expressway on Monday, the completed portion is from the Karnal Sher Khan Interchange on the Peshawar-Islamabad Motorway up to Dhobian instead of Katlang as was originally planned.

The provincial government had announced that the 50 kilometres portion up to Katlang Interchange would be inaugurated by the chief minister on May 21. However, this didn’t happen as some bridges are still being built and, therefore, the portion up to Dhobian Interchange in Swabi district only was inaugurated on Monday.

Beyond Dhobian, the next interchange is at Ismaila village and that too isn’t complete as work on one bridge is still underway. Frontier Works Organization (FWO)’s Col Qaiser Khan told The News that the bridge would take another two to three weeks to be ready and then the expressway up to Ismaila would become operational.

After Ismaila, there is another interchange at Bakhshali village and the next is Katlang, both located in Mardan district.

Col Qaiser Khan, the project director, said that the portion up to Katlang would be completed by June 25 as work on two more bridges on the way is nearing completion.

“We are using the road up to Katlang already, though we drive on the diversion at the locations where the bridges are under construction,” he added.

Describing work on the project fast-paced and high quality, he said the 50 kilometres portion of the Swat Expressway up to Katlang would become fully operational soon after Eidul Fitr. He pointed out that the whole, 81-kilometres project up to Chakdara would be completed by December this year. “The work on the two tunnels is in advanced stage. Asphalting of the road is being carried out briskly as we do one kilometre a day,” he added.