Balochistan govt approves construction of Quetta-Karachi highways

QUETTA: Balochistan government has approved construction of Quetta to Karachi and Chaman highways, said provincial Home Minister Mir Ziaullah Langu.

In a statement, the minister said the government is cooperating with the federal government to provide modern transport facilities to masses across the province.

He said work on several development projects would be soon started in different areas of Balochistan to improve the living standard of people.

Yesterday, independent member of the National Assembly from Lasbela and Gwadar Muhammad Aslam Bhootani has said the federal government has decided to construct a dual-carriage highway from Chaman to Karachi at a cost of Rs200 billion.

He said it was a longstanding demand of the people of Balochistan, as hundreds of people had lost their lives in road accidents on the Quetta-Karachi highway.

The Chaman-Karachi highway was not included in the Federal PSDP for 2020-21 but the project was later approved and will be built under a public-private partnership initiative. He said that work on preparing a feasibility report on the mega-project would be completed by April next year.

On 7th July, a meeting on road infrastructure projects presided by Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar approved selected two road projects worth Rs300 billion for completion.

The 790-kilometre N-25 connects Karachi with Quetta and provides access to Afghanistan through Chaman. The project includes construction of additional carriageway and rehabilitation of existing road to make it a four-lane divided carriageway.

The federal minister said these projects would help provide good road infrastructure facilities in collaboration with the private sector. He directed to complete the design and feasibility studies on both projects by March 31, 2021.

National Highway N-25 connects Karachi with Quetta and provides access to Afghanistan via Chaman. This project includes construction of additional carriageway and rehabilitation of the existing road to make it a four-lane divided carriageway.