Murree Road (), alternatively known as Benazir Bhutto Road, is a major road that runs from
Islamabad
Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital ...
and
Rawalpindi to
Murree
Murree (Punjabi, Urdu: مری) is a mountain resort city, located in the Galyat region of the Pir Panjal Range, within the Muree District of Punjab, Pakistan. It forms the outskirts of the Islamabad-Rawalpindi metropolitan area, and is about ...
in
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
. It passes through Rawalpindi's
downtown area, and has been a hotspot for various political and social events.
Names
It was originally named Raza Shah Pehlavi Road in the 1960s,
after
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last
Shah of Iran
This is a list of monarchs of Persia (or monarchs of the Iranic peoples, in present-day Iran), which are known by the royal title Shah or Shahanshah. This list starts from the establishment of the Medes around 671 BCE until the deposition of th ...
, who was the first head of state to visit Pakistan. However, it has always been known as Murree Road since it eventually led to the nearby
hill station of
Murree
Murree (Punjabi, Urdu: مری) is a mountain resort city, located in the Galyat region of the Pir Panjal Range, within the Muree District of Punjab, Pakistan. It forms the outskirts of the Islamabad-Rawalpindi metropolitan area, and is about ...
.
On 20 May 2008,
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
Yousaf Raza Gillani
Yusuf Raza Gilani ( Urdu: ; born 9 June 1952), is a Pakistani politician who served as 18th Prime Minister of Pakistan from 25 March 2008, until his retroactive disqualification and ouster by the Supreme Court of Pakistan on 26 April 2012. ...
announced that the federal government had decided to rename the road after
Benazir Bhutto, who was
assassinated at the nearby
Liaqat National Bagh on 27 December 2007. However, the city officials claimed that the change of name had not been notified, and was, therefore, not official. In spite of this, residents and shopkeepers started referring it with its new name.
Route
Nala Lai is located along the road in Rawalpindi. History describes that Nala Lai's water was pure enough to wash clothes, but now it has become polluted with waste water from all sources including factories and houses.
Liaquat National Bagh, famous place for political gatherings as well as being the site of the assassinations of two former prime ministers and bystanders, is also located along the Murree Road.
Nine
Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metrobus
The Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metrobus is a bus rapid transit system operating in the Islamabad–Rawalpindi metropolitan area of Pakistan. It consists of four routes, namely the Red, Orange, Blue, and Green Lines. The Red and Orange Lines have d ...
stations also lie along Murree Road.
Gallery
File:Murree road rawalp galleryfull.jpeg, The Murree Road in Rawalpindi, as viewed from a footbridge while the construction work on Committee Chowk Underpass is being carried out in the background
File:Committee chowk underpass, Murree Road, Rawalpindi.png, alt=Committee Chowk Underpass, Committee Chowk Underpass with the elevated track of Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metrobus
The Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metrobus is a bus rapid transit system operating in the Islamabad–Rawalpindi metropolitan area of Pakistan. It consists of four routes, namely the Red, Orange, Blue, and Green Lines. The Red and Orange Lines have d ...
visible above
See also
*
Lai Expressway
Lai Expressway is the 17 km long under construction alternative road to connect Islamabad's IJP Road with GT Road. The initial cost of the project is estimated at PKR.70 billion. It will be built with the participation of government and private ...
References
External links
Murree Road Pictures and Videos
Populated places in Rawalpindi District
Murree
Roads in Islamabad Capital Territory
Highways in Punjab
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