ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan will break ground for the construction of 128 kilometers Lilla-Jhelum road at a ceremony to be held here on Tuesday.

The Lilla-Jhelum dual carriageway, to be completed in 30 months at a cost of Rs.16 billion, will connect Khushab, Mandi Bahauddin, Gujrat and Mir Pur regions.

The construction of Lilla-Jhelum road will also help promote tourism in the area, boost the farm-to-market supply of agricultural produce, enhance employment opportunities and strengthen economic development.

Besides Prime Minister Imran Khan, the ground-breaking ceremony will also be addressed by Chief Minister Punjab Usman Buzdar and Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain.

On September 27, Imran Khan had performed the groundbreaking of the Karachi Circular Railway, which was expected to ferry nearly half a million passengers daily.

The KCR is 43km long (with 29 km elevated) dual carriage track with 22 stations. Infrastructure development for the KCR includes overhead bridges and underpasses worth Rs27 billion.

Karachi’s transport system has been in a state of disrepair for decades, leaving the people in dire straits.

Earlier, the prime minister, while lauding efforts of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, had termed the inclusion of the Karachi Comprehensive Coastal Development Zone in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as a ‘game changer’.