KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and Federal Minister for Planning and Development (P&D) Ahsan Iqbal on Tuesday reviewed the pending construction of the Coastal Highway and 20 other projects pending approval and permission from the Planning Commission. Discussed.
In a meeting held at the Chief Minister’s House, it was decided that the Coastal Highway will be made an economic corridor as it is connected to all the highways going to Katy Bandar, Karachi and Upcountry.
Iqbal said that he and Sindh P&D Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah started the second phase of the coastal highway on Tuesday by leveling the ground at the site, adding that the Makran Coastal Highway was built about 25 years ago. was built, but it did not become an economic corridor. .
He emphasized that the road sector projects should not only serve as means of public transport but should also be transformed into economic zones. The chief minister said that the coastal highway being constructed by the Sindh and federal governments has significant potential for economic activities.
He said that the Coastal Highway will provide clear access for transportation of goods to Karachi and the rest of the country as it connects to the National Highway (N5) and the Motorway.
Nasir Shah briefed the meeting about the under-construction Coastal Highway covering 279 km, starting from N5 in Gharo, District Thatta and extending to Ali Bandar, District Badin.
The project was launched by the provincial government in 2007 as part of the annual development programme. Due to financial constraints, the project will be completed in phases.
Phase-I covers 37 km, starting from N5 near Gharu, to be constructed in 2023-24. An additional 11 km is currently under construction, which began in the last quarter of 2023 and will be completed over the next five years.
Phase II includes another 36 km, extending the road from 11 km to 47 km, starting from the Gadaju-Jhapulu junction and ending at the N110. This phase is covered under the Public Sector Development Programme, and is based on the National Highway Authority (NHA) CSR 2022.
The scheme is currently under review due to hyperinflation, and the launch of CSR 2024 by NHA. Construction will commence after approval of revised PC-I.
The remaining 195 km from Keti Bandar to Ali Bandar to Shah Bandar and Zero Point, Badin, will be taken up later, depending on policy decisions and availability of funds.
The chief minister discussed with Iqbal various provincial projects that have been pending for review for the past two years, including the construction of eastern and expansion of southern sewage treatment plants as part of the Hyderabad package.
Expansion of filter plant and water supply networks to provide clean water to Hyderabad city is also pending. Iqbal assured the Chief Minister that his approval would be issued soon.
For the rehabilitation and construction of roads at Site Industrial Estate, Karachi, which has been awaiting approval since August 13, Iqbal said he would visit the site industrial area, then get approval for the plans from the Planning Commission.
The Chief Minister said that the Karachi Urban Infrastructure Development Package is currently in the process of getting approval for PC-I, so the second quarter proposal is not feasible at this time. The Planning Commission returned the PC-I for not getting the detailed estimate.
Further, the Hyderabad Urban Infrastructure Development Package (Rehabilitation and Rehabilitation) is also under review for PC-I approval, hence the second quarter proposal is not proposed. As in Karachi, the Planning Commission returned the PC-I for not receiving detailed estimates.
The Prime Minister’s Program (1,800 units) for construction and reconstruction of existing schools in rain and flood-affected Sindh in 2022 has been cleared in all respects, and the first quarter of funding has been released. is
The tenders for all the schools are currently in the evaluation stage, hence the proposed allocation of Rs 2 billion for the second quarter, which is insufficient. Iqbal said that more funds will be released after the work starts.
Also, while addressing a delegation of the Young Parliamentarians Forum, CM Shah emphasized that historical records show that in 1919, 4 million acres of land in Sindh were using canals, and that the Sindh Crop Reporting Services As of 2023 data, the province now irrigates 4.6 Million acres of land in Sindh through 14 irrigation canals through three barrages.
He said that Sindh was struggling to increase cultivation due to persistent water scarcity and warned that the development of additional canals in this context could threaten the agricultural economy of the province. He pointed out that there were only two years from 1976 to 2024 when there was an excess of water in the Indus River. Otherwise, the region is facing continuous decline. Sindh has been facing an average water deficit of 11% since the signing of the water agreement.
The delegation urged the Chief Minister to provide them with the data on available water resources so that they could support their cause in Parliament. Members of Parliament from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan also expressed their intention to raise this issue in the National Assembly. Senior Information Minister Sharjeel Memon, Irrigation Minister Jam Khan Shoro and Local Government Minister Saeed Ghani also attended the meeting. In the delegation that met the Chief Minister, PYF President Syeda Nosheen Iftikhar, General Secretary Mir Jamal Khan Raisani, Information Secretary Iqbal Khan, Syed Ali Qasim Geelani, Ali Jan Mazari, Daniyal Chaudhary, Raja Osama Sarwar, Barrister Aqeel Malik, Moqdad Ali Khan, Saad Rafiq were included. Waseem, Salahuddin Junejo, Kiran Imran Dar, Muhammad Saadullah, Usman Ali, Akhtar Bibi, Shaista Khan, Pir Amir Ali Shah Jilani, Zulfiqar Bachani, Shamoon. Hashmi, Muhammad Mushtaq, Zafar Sultan, Raja Muhammad Ali and Muhammad Nauman.