Hyderabad-Sukkur section: NHA demands lower land rates for motorway construction

Hyderabad commissioner assures 'all problems will be solved mutually'

HYDERABAD: Exorbitant rates have reportedly complicated the land acquisition process for the 296-kilometre Hyderabad-Sukkur motorway project.

At a meeting with Hyderabad Commissioner Qazi Shahid Pervez on Thursday, National Highway Authority (NHA) South Zone member Abdullah Jan raised the issue of expensive government and private land.



"A reasonable price should be set for the land for the motorway project," Jan requested the commissioner.

This section is part of the Karachi-Lahore motorway project announced by the country's premier.

The NHA has reportedly decided to offer construction of this section on the build-operate-transfer basis to national and international construction firms through an open bidding process.

A sum of Rs163 billion has been earmarked for the project.

The commissioner asked his staff to resolve the complications in the land acquisition process and to immediately conduct a land survey to facilitate the construction of the motorway section.



"The problems occurring during this project will be resolved through mutual consent so that the work on this project of national importance can be expedited," assured Pervez. However, the commissioner pointed out that the federal government has not paid the Sindh government for the land which it has acquired for the motorway project.

In August, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif approved the construction of this section, directing the NHA to initiate the work by March, 2017.

The section will be built on the existing two-lane double road highway between Sukkur and Hyderabad.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 8^th, 2016.