Connecting the region: PM orders release of Rs2b for Lowari Tunnel
Prime Minister Gilani also directs communications authorities to expedite work on several road projects.
ISLAMABAD:
In a bid to get work started on much-needed infrastructure and road projects, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has directed the ministry of finance and planning to release Rs2 billion to the National Highway Authority (NHA).
The money is to be used to resume work on the Lowari Tunnel. The tunnel is extremely important as a corridor to the Asian republics through the Pakistan-Afghanistan-Tajikistan route, and connects Chitral to the rest of the country, said the prime minister.
“He directed the ministry for finance and the planning division to release funds ... for this purpose; Rs1 billion over and above the Public Sector Development Programme [PSDP],” Gilani’s spokesperson said.
Projects in the northern areas
Presiding over a meeting of strategic roads projects in Islamabad on Monday, he also gave directions to the NHA to start work on the Attabad Lake bypass without further delay, so that trade could be resumed with China in the area.
The spokesman also said that in anticipation of the submergence of some parts of the Karakoram Highway during the construction of the Bhasha Dam, the prime minister directed the realignment of the bypass connecting Sazim and Raikot. He also asked the Water and Power Development Authority to release funds to NHA for commencement of work along 35 kilometres of the Shatial bypass in order to facilitate the movement of people during the dam’s construction.
The meeting was also told that an expressway between Hassanabdal and Mansehra was a long-time demand of millions of people in the region. The premier then directed the NHA to make necessary arrangements as he is to personally attend the ground-breaking ceremony of the project in January. In addition, he told the NHA to complete five bridges between Jaglot and Skardu, where transport conditions are poor.
Work on the road between the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad region and Chilas is also to be resumed, the prime minister stated, adding that it would reduce the distance to Gilgit, provide an alternative route to Islamabad and facilitate tourism.
Projects in Balochistan
As far as work in Balochistan was concerned, the premier directed that the road connecting Khadkucha, Saryab and Jangalpir Alizai on the Kalat-Quetta-Chaman Road be expedited and completed in the ‘shortest possible time’.
NHA resources are also to be utilised for completion of the Gawadar-Turbat-Khushab Road on a priority basis as well as the Khuzdar-Ratodero Road which connects Balochistan, Sindh and Punjab via the Indus Highway.
Pak–Aghan transport
In connection with the Jalalabad-Torkham Additional Carriageway, Prime Minister Gilani said the project was “Pakistan’s commitment to our brotherly country of Afghanistan and it must be honoured at all costs”. Work on the project was earlier suspended due to financial constraints.
The Torkham-Peshawar Road is also to be upgraded by the NHA through its own budget.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 22nd, 2011.
In a bid to get work started on much-needed infrastructure and road projects, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has directed the ministry of finance and planning to release Rs2 billion to the National Highway Authority (NHA).
The money is to be used to resume work on the Lowari Tunnel. The tunnel is extremely important as a corridor to the Asian republics through the Pakistan-Afghanistan-Tajikistan route, and connects Chitral to the rest of the country, said the prime minister.
“He directed the ministry for finance and the planning division to release funds ... for this purpose; Rs1 billion over and above the Public Sector Development Programme [PSDP],” Gilani’s spokesperson said.
Projects in the northern areas
Presiding over a meeting of strategic roads projects in Islamabad on Monday, he also gave directions to the NHA to start work on the Attabad Lake bypass without further delay, so that trade could be resumed with China in the area.
The spokesman also said that in anticipation of the submergence of some parts of the Karakoram Highway during the construction of the Bhasha Dam, the prime minister directed the realignment of the bypass connecting Sazim and Raikot. He also asked the Water and Power Development Authority to release funds to NHA for commencement of work along 35 kilometres of the Shatial bypass in order to facilitate the movement of people during the dam’s construction.
The meeting was also told that an expressway between Hassanabdal and Mansehra was a long-time demand of millions of people in the region. The premier then directed the NHA to make necessary arrangements as he is to personally attend the ground-breaking ceremony of the project in January. In addition, he told the NHA to complete five bridges between Jaglot and Skardu, where transport conditions are poor.
Work on the road between the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad region and Chilas is also to be resumed, the prime minister stated, adding that it would reduce the distance to Gilgit, provide an alternative route to Islamabad and facilitate tourism.
Projects in Balochistan
As far as work in Balochistan was concerned, the premier directed that the road connecting Khadkucha, Saryab and Jangalpir Alizai on the Kalat-Quetta-Chaman Road be expedited and completed in the ‘shortest possible time’.
NHA resources are also to be utilised for completion of the Gawadar-Turbat-Khushab Road on a priority basis as well as the Khuzdar-Ratodero Road which connects Balochistan, Sindh and Punjab via the Indus Highway.
Pak–Aghan transport
In connection with the Jalalabad-Torkham Additional Carriageway, Prime Minister Gilani said the project was “Pakistan’s commitment to our brotherly country of Afghanistan and it must be honoured at all costs”. Work on the project was earlier suspended due to financial constraints.
The Torkham-Peshawar Road is also to be upgraded by the NHA through its own budget.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 22nd, 2011.