Work on DI Khan-Zhob Highway to start soon

Islamabad :Meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Communications was held in the committee room of the Parliament House here on Friday under the Chairmanship of the Committee Daud Khan Achakzai in which various projects relating to NHA and attached departments were discussed, saya a press release.

The senior officers from Ministry of Communications and National Highway Authority (NHA) participated. Giving briefing to the Committee, Chairman NHA Shahid Ashraf Tarar said construction and extension of highways in Balochistan province stands among the priorities of the NHA and all out efforts are being made for earlier completion of the highway schemes in Balochistan. He recalled that the meeting of JCC was held between Pakistan and China in December 2016. 

The JCC recommended the projects of Basima-Khuzdar (110 Km) and DI Khan-Zhob (210 Km) for financing. PC-Is for both the projects have also been approved by the ECNEC, and framework agreements have also been approved by the Cabinet. It is expected that Pakistan and China will soon conclude agreement for implementation of these projects. He said, meeting of the Joint Working Group of Pakistan- China was held in Karachi last month where new highway schemes for Balochistan were approved.

He said, six projects of the Western Route of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) are located in Balochistan. Among them, upgardation of Zhob-Quetta (331 Km), Quetta-Sorab (211 Km), Gwadar-Turbat-Hoshab (193 Km) and Hoshab-Sorab (449 Km) is duly completed. Work on Zhob-Mughalkot and Hakla-DI Khan Expressway (285 Km) is in full swing and will be completed by December 2018. It will cost Rs122 billion. Another important project is Khuzdar-Rathodero which will provide a crucial link between the provinces of Balochistan and Sindh.
More than 90% work on the project is done and it will be completed by the end of this year.

He further said, special attention was also paid to revive those projects that were initiated long ago but were stalled midway because of fund shortage, security issued and other reasons. These projects were not only revived but also successfully complete. These included the all important Lowari Tunnel, Lyari Expressway, Turbat-Hoshab and Hoshab-Sorab road projects.