‘Rs1.25b approved for three road projects in Mansehra’

MANSEHRA: Federal parliamentary secretary of power MNA Saleh Muhammad Khan has said that on the recommendations of Prime Minister Imran Khan, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has approved Rs1.25billion funds for construction of three roads under its tourism promotion strategy in the province.

“For the first time in the country, the incumbent federal government has given the tourism a status of industry and launched mega development projects to explore more and more tourist attractions in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” he told the oath-taking ceremony of hoteliers association in Balakot on Sunday.

The PTI MNA said the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government approved Shogran Road, Manoor Valley and Ghanool roads in order to promote tourism in Balakot and Kaghan Valley.

“I have received prime minister’s directives for the establishment of a medical college and women’s university and these two mega projects would also bring a major change in lives of locals,” he added.

He said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government wanted to shift Rs700 million of a road project from here to anywhere else in the province but Prime Minister Imran Khan on his demand restricted those funds’ transfer and now work on that mega project would soon be started as tendering process was completed.

On the occasion, Chief Minister Advisor Ahmad Hussain Shah told the gathering that Chief Minister Mahmood Khan was due here in Kaghan valley next week where he would inaugurate three road projects.

“Work on 5 out of a total 14 small hydropower projects being executed in Balakot tehsil has been completed with funds of Rs500 million and the chief minister would inaugurate those dams too,” he said. He also administered oath to Balakot Hoteliers Association. The association president Ejaz Ahmad Khan highlighted tourism industry’s issues because of the lockdown due to Covid-19 pandemic.