Technical teams from the services and construction committee have initiated a project to maintain the main street linking Baghdad to Mosul at a total cost of 5 billion Iraqi dinars, the chairman of the committee said on Saturday.
"The street will be reasphalted and the sidewalks maintained," Zuheir al-Jalabi told Aswat al-Iraq- Voices of Iraq- (VOI).
The street, once named 'The Death Street' following a series of murders and bombings, is one of the city's most important streets. "It is the main route for trucks coming from northern Iraq, Syria and Turkey to Baghdad," Jalabi explained, lamenting the current poor condition of the street.
A total of 120 billion Iraqi dinars (1 U.S. dollar= 1,119 Iraqi dinars) has been earmarked for the services and construction committee with the purpose of providing services to local residents.
Since May 10, Ninewa has witnessed two security operations codenamed Zaeer al-al-Assad (Lion's Roar) and Umm al-Rabiain (Mother of Two Springs) to track down gunmen and impose order and law in the troubled city.
Mosul, the capital city of Ninewa, lies 405 km north of Baghdad. The original city of Mosul stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient biblical city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial areas on both banks, with five bridges linking the two sides. Despite having an amount of Kurdish population, it does not form part of the area controlled by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). The fabric Muslin is named for this city.
Another historically important product of the area is Mosul marble.
The city is also a historic center for the Nestorian Christianity of the Assyrians, containing the tombs of several Old Testament prophets such as Jonah, Yunus in Arabic, and Nahum.
(Voices of Iraq)
