Construction of Indus Highway delayed amid Centre-Sindh row

Chief Minister writes second letter to PM Khan seeking intervention

KARACHI: With the Sindh and federal governments engaged in a tug-of-war, it is ultimately the citizens who must pay the price. The latest example of this is the construction of the Jamshoro-Sehwan Road, a part of the Indus Highway, located in the constituency of Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, which has been plagued by inordinate delays.
During the past one year, 631 traffic accidents have been reported on the 128-kilometre stretch, which have claimed the lives of 148 people and leaving another 1,200 injured.
The section of the highway in question is a two-lane two-way road with sharp curves and turns. The Indus Highway or N-55, which is the second longest highway of 1,264km length, runs from Jamshoro to Peshawar.

The project
The National Highway Authority (NHA), which started the construction work on the first phase of the project in 2017, has yet to finish the job. Meanwhile, work on the second phase hasn't even started yet.
Recently, CM Shah wrote a second letter, a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune, to Prime Minister Imran Khan, complaining that work on the Jamshoro-Sehwan Road hasn't started due to the delaying tactics of the NHA, even though the Sindh government has given its share of the expenditure.
According to the contract, the Sindh government agreed to share 50% of the total cost of the project and had disbursed its share of the funds 18 months ago.
However, the NHA has failed to meet every deadline set by the authorities. Work on the first phase of the project was initiated a few months ago, but the discord between the Centre and the provincial government seems to be causing delays. While the NHA has yet to start work on the Sehwan section, the pace of work on the Jamshoro-Petaro section has also been reduced.
In his letter to PM Khan, Shah has asked the premier to take the notice of the delays and intervene in the matter to prevent more lives from being lost. The Prime Minister should order the NHA to complete the project within the stipulated time, the CM has requested, adding that the Sindh is also ready to take complete responsibility of the project if the NHA is disinterested in finishing the job.
Earlier on September 7, 2018, the CM had sent a letter to Prime Minister Imran Khan regarding the Jamshoro- Sehwan Road. However, no satisfactory response had been received from the Centre.

Courts' displeasure
In April 2017, Advocate Javed Ali Buriro had approached the Sindh High Court, seeking direction for the authorities to expedite work on the project. "Accidents have become routine on the Indus Highway. At least four to five accidents take place [there] daily," the petitioner had claimed.
The next year in August, the matter was taken up by the Supreme Court, with Justice Gulzar Ahmed admonishing the National Highway Authority (NHA) for frequent traffic accidents on the portion of the Indus Highway between Jamshoro and Sehwan.
Justice Ahmed came down hard on the then NHA Chairperson Jawad Rafique Malik and remarked that he should feel ashamed of the construction of the M9 Motorway. The vehicles move at a snail's pace on the road, the judge said, adding that cases would be registered against the authority's officers if even a single person died due to an accident on the highway.
During a conversation with the NHA chairperson, Justice Ahmed remarked that the entire institution was corrupt. The bench remarked that it seemed that the authority was waiting for a major accident to take place and was not bothered about frequent accidents on the road.
It seems, however, that neither the court's rebuke nor the Sindh government's pleas have had any effect on the NHA, which continues to work at a snail's pace.