QUETTA, : Federal Minister for Communications and Postal Services Murad Saeed on Wednesday said the Western Route of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would be completed during the tenure of present government, which would bring prosperity for Balochistan.
It was a dream turned into realty by the incumbent government which had started work on the Western Route, he added.
Murad Saeed was speaking at the groundbreaking of dualization of Quetta Western Bypass, construction of Dera Murad Jamali Bypass and Ziarat Mor-Kach-Harnai-Sanjavi road projects. Prime Minister Imran Khan broke ground of the projects.
The minister said during the previous 15 years, some 1,100 km long highways were planned, while the present government in its two and a half years tenure had planned and started work on 3,300 kilometers long national highways projects.
He said the work on Zhob-Khuzdar, Basima-Khuzdar and Hoshab-Awaran road was underway while work on the D I Khan-Zhob project would be initiated soon. Similarly, he added, the dualization of 796 km long Chaman-Quetta-Karachi-Highway would start during the current year.
The construction of new and extension of existing highways and motorways would not only pave the way for socio-economic uplift of far long areas of Balochistan, but also have positive impacts on the economy of entire region, he added.
Giving details of the projects, National Highway Authority Chairman Capt (Retd) Muhammad Khurram Agha said 22.7 km long dualization of Quetta Western Bypass would be completed at the cost of Rs 3,938.78 million in 24 months. The project included some 15 bridges and 34 culverts, which after completion would ease out traffic congestion and reduce travel time by 30-45 minutes. The project would create some 1715 jobs, he added.
He said 11 km long two-lane Dera Murad Jamali Bypass would be completed at the contract cost of Rs 1,456.3 million in 18 months. One bridge and 31 culverts would be built in the project, which on completion would remove congestion in the area as the traffic would use the bypass without disturbing the local community.
The NHA chairman said the construction of 162 km long Ziarat Mor-Kach-Harnai-Sanjavi Road was of immense importance. The project to be completed at the cost of Rs 8,379.7 million in two years, would consist of 12 bridges and 415 culverts.
Besides creating more than 8,611 jobs for the locals, the project would improve socioeconomic conditions of the area, reduce vehicles operating cost by 30 percent and save travelling time by over 50 percent, he added.
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