Punjab has referred the Lilla Interchange M-2 dualization — a project worth Rs20,809 million linking the M-2 motorway with Pind Dadan Khan in Jhelum — to the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP), the federal list of major public works. The Provincial Development Working Party (PDWP), the province’s forum that reviews large development schemes, took the decision in its 11th meeting of the current financial year.
How the project reached the PSDP
The meeting was chaired by Planning and Development Board Punjab Chairman Dr Naeem Rauf. Secretary Rafaqat Ali, Chief Economist Dr Farrukh Naveed, and other board members attended. By sending the scheme to the PSDP, the province is seeking federal-level placement for a road upgrade that sits on a busy interchange corridor rather than treating it only as a routine provincial jobs list item.
What the dualization is meant to achieve
Officials describe the Lilla Interchange M-2 dualization as a measure to decongest and upgrade the key link that joins the M-2 with Pind Dadan Khan. The aim is better movement for ordinary travellers and for freight that uses the same route. Dualization here means widening or converting the corridor so traffic can flow in both directions with less pinch at the interchange — a familiar bottleneck problem on roads that feed Pakistan’s motorway network.
The Lilla Interchange project sits on a stretch that matters for towns served from the motorway toward Pind Dadan Khan. Clearance at the PDWP stage is an approval and referral step; it does not, by itself, set a start date for earthwork or traffic diversions. Those details were not stated with the referral.
Schemes cleared in the same sitting
Beyond this interchange package, the PDWP cleared 10 development schemes with a combined value of Rs60 billion. That figure covers the batch approved in the sitting, of which the Lilla dualization — at roughly Rs20.8 billion — is a large single item. The Lilla Interchange M-2 dualization therefore accounts for a substantial share of the money tagged in that meeting’s approved list, though the referral to the PSDP means federal programming will shape how and when funds are scheduled.
For now, the concrete public fact is institutional: Punjab’s planning leadership has forwarded the dualization costed at Rs20,809 million into the PSDP track after formal PDWP consideration.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Punjab ne Lilla Interchange se Pind Dadan Khan tak M-2 wali sadak ko double karne ka Rs20.8 arab ka project federal PSDP mein bhej diya hai. Iska maqsad traffic kam karna aur logon aur saamaan dono ke liye rasta behtar banana hai. Faisla Planning Board ke chairman Dr Naeem Rauf ki presidership mein PDWP meeting mein hua. Ab federal development programme mein shamil hone ke baad funding aur timeline wahan se clear hongi.
