Dams unlikely to control floods: CM

Says Hyderabad-Sukkur Motorway to be completed under public private partnership

HYDRABAD:

The missing link of north-south modern road - the Hyderabad-Sukkur Motorway ¬ will be constructed on public private partnership (PPP) mode, Sindh CM Murad Ali Shah said.

Unlike the motorways from Peshawar to Islamabad and onward to Lahore, Multan and Sukkur, the last patch has yet to get financing under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) or China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Shah said talking to the media after a meeting I Hyderabad on Friday.

CM Murad disagreed with the suggestions from various quarters over the importance of dams in reducing the damage caused by floods, saying the river tsunami in Sindh was unlikely to be controlled by dams alone. He said that the so-called experts should explain how the 120 million-acre-feet of water in Sindh could be taken to Tarbela and Diamer-Bhasha Dams or where such a large quantum of water could be stored in Sindh.

"Some experts have also given their input, and one asked why I was drowning the people and said I should divert the water," he said. "Please tell me how I can keep moving or diverting water like a vehicle." However, he added that he was open to suggestions from anyone that could help in dealing with the flood situation.

PPP funding

Earlier, National Highway Authority (NHA) Chairman Capt (retd) M Khurram briefed CM Murad and Federal Communication Minister Asad Mahmood and their respective teams about the Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway.

The meeting discussed launching of 306-km motorway on public-private partnership (PPP).

CM expressed his reservations that the motorways from Peshawar to Sukkur were constructed through CPEC and PSDP but the portion in Sindh was being delayed just to construct it on PPP mode.

"Since it has become too late, therefore my contention is that the federal government must ensure financial closure of the project within next six months so that it can be completed by March 2023," the chief minister said and added it has been made an injustice with the people of the province.

Khurram briefing the meeting said that it would be a six-lane 306km motorway having 15 interchanges, a bridge over Indus, and 19 overpasses bridges.

It was pointed out that over 7,500 acres of land were required in seven districts -, Jamshoro, Hyderabad, Matiari, Benazirabad, Naushero Feroze, Khairpur, and Sukkur, for the project. Joint survey work has been conducted by NHA, Revenue, and settlement departments. The hydraulic model study of the River Indus Bridge has been conducted.

Mahmood assured the chief minister that the project would be launched well in time by taking necessary measures. He also said that the provincial government would be kept in the loop in every development of the project.

Jamshoro-Sehwan dual Carriageway

Giving the background of the Jamshoro-Sehwan Dual carriageway, the CM said he had discussed the project with Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif during his visit to Karachi on April 13, 2022.

Shah said that his government took up converting the road into a Dual Carriageway in a meeting held with NHA chairman in 2017. He added that his government agreed to bear a significant share, amounting to Rs7 billion, in the total cost of the project for dualisation of [Jamshoro-Sehwan] Road. "This amount of Rs7 billion was provided by his government to the federal government on April 17, 2017, through at source deduction," he said. However, since then the project was moving at a snail's pace.

"The rising toll of Road Traffic Accidents (RTAs) has resulted in several deaths and injuries," the CM said. Mahmood told the CM he has been traveling the road and no doubt it has become dangerous. He assured the chief minister that work on them has been accelerated and would be completed shortly.

Visit Relief camp

The chief minister just after the meeting at Hyderabad drove to Tando Allahyar where he visited a tent city established for the rain-affected people at the bypass.

The Chief Minister spent some time with the affected people, sat with them on the floor in a tent, and in true rural culture, he got their detailed account of the tale of woe.

Instead of male members, mostly elderly women narrated the details right from starting of heavy rains to the inundation and collapse of their homes and then migration to the relief camps. In a camp three women told the chief minister that they were suffering from cardiac issues, The CM directed the deputy commissioner to shift them to NICVD Tando Mohammad Khan and report him.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 17^th, 2022.