Govt to initiate 550 new road projects
The Balochistan government would initiate 550 new projects of construction of roads to provide travelling facility to people for which around Rs20 billion had been earmarked in the financial year 2021-22.
The provincial government had initiated the work to construct 4,000 kilometres roads to improve the communication system in the province, said an official of the Balochistan government.
The official said that around 2,500km of road projects were completed in the province during the outgoing fiscal year 2020-21, adding the expansion and reconstruction of Ziarat Road would increase tourism activities in the area.
“The areas adjacent to the Afghan border in Zhob Division and the areas adjacent to the Iranian border in Makran Division will be connected to national highways,” he said, adding the initiatives would boost trade and economic activities in the two divisions.
The official said the construction of highways would give an extra benefit to the agricultural and mineral production of the province by providing the sector access to major markets.
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It was also decided to include the construction of Ziarat to Sanjavi road in the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) and build a link road to connect the surrounding communities with the main road. Meanwhile, the government has included another project in the PSDP under which tourist centres and rest areas would be constructed along the roads. The road infrastructure was vital to curtailing traffic accidents and saving human lives, said the official.
The provincial government would initiate work on dual carriageway of 796-km-long Chaman-Quetta-Karachi-Highway in the current year.
“The federal government has allocated Rs81.582 billion for the first phase of construction of Kuchlak to Khuzdar section of Quetta-Karachi highway,” said the provincial government official, adding the construction of new highways and extension of the existing ones would pave the way for socio-economic uplift of backward areas of Balochistan. Besides, it would impact positively on the economy of entire region.
The government has also planned to expand the Medical Emergency and Response Centre (MERC) project by constructing more centres along every highway in the province.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 28th, 2021.