Leh Expressway made part of CPEC

The government has decided to extend Leh Expressway from IJP Principal Road to Srinagar Highway and to start it under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.

The project holder Chinese Civil Engineer Construction Company (CCECC) had given this recommendation which has been approved. The CCECC focal person Mir Ateequr Rehman confirmed the development while talking to The Express Tribune on Friday.

A 10-member team of engineers from CCECC had visited Rawalpindi last month to review the length of the Leh Nullah and prepare a report on the expressway project.

A high-level meeting has been held to discuss inclusion of Leh Expressway project in CPEC. The representatives of four Chinese companies had also joined the meeting online, Rehman said.

CCECC Managing Director (MD) Wong Chau also participated in the meeting along with the engineers of National Engineering Services of Pakistan (NESPAK).

After final approval of the suggestion, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) will also become a part of the mega project, he said.

Further, under the mega project, the selected section of the Leh Nullah would be cemented and fortified with concrete. The bed and the banks on both sides would become lined with concrete to bear 100,000 cubic feet per second (cusecs) of water. The heaviest flood the channel has so far seen was in 2001 when 70,000 cusecs of water flowed through it.

NESPAK feasibility report on the channel is based on ability to handle 80,000 cusecs water passing through it while Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has based its reported on 90,000 cusecs water.

Leh Expressway envisages 15 feet wide service roads built along both sides of Leh Nullah, Rehman said.

He said that the expressway would be 20-kilometre (km) long while it would have four interchanges and 14 bridges on the entire route. The official said that there would be five entry and exit points on the expressway.

Rehman said that the construction of the road from Soan Bridge to IJP Principal Road would be constructed by Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) while CDA would build the section onwards to Srinagar Highway.

The focal person said that the residents of sectors I-10 and H-10 of the federal capital would take advantage of the project too.

As preparations began to start work on the much-anticipated Rs80 billion Leh Expressway project, the government had decided to build the road link on a ‘Build, Operate and Transfer’ (BOT) basis. This way, the government had hoped to shed around 85 per cent of the cost for the mega project.

Residents of areas which have been demarcated for the construction of the Leh Expressway in Rawalpindi district have demanded that they should be paid market rates for their properties.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 12^th, 2020.