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Lowari tunnel ready for opening at last!

ISLAMABAD: Lowari tunnel is ready for inauguration by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The National Highway Authority (NHA) completed work on the 8.4 km long tunnel on the direction of the prime minister.
 
It is expected that the prime minister would open the tunnel for general traffic on July 1.
 
An official told APP in Islamabad that work on the project had been completed at a cost of 21 billion rupees.
 
After opening, the tunnel will provide round-the-clock traveling facility to the people of Chitral even during the harsh winter season.
 
He said the Prime Minister had been requested to inaugurate the the tunnel next month.
 
Terming it a gift of Prime Minister for people of Chitral, he said the PML-N government after coming to power had approved additional funds for the project to ensure its completion as early as possible. 
Work on the mega project started in 2005 during the regime of Gen Pervez Musharraf.
The construction of the tunnel had been a longstanding demand of the people of Chitral who remained cut off from the rest of the country in the winter due to snowfall on the Lowari Pass.
The work could not be completed on time due to stoppage of funds when the PPP came to power in 2008. However, the PML-N government spent over Rs20 billion to complete the project.
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