Rs1.37 trillion Hyderabad-Sukkur Motorway project gets go-ahead
The Federal Communication Minister Molana Asad Mehmood and Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah held a meeting here on Friday at Shahbaz Building to discuss the construction of Hyderabad-Sukkur Motorway. The federal minister informed that the road was being construct on Built Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis. According to him, the cost of the project would be Rs1.37 trillion. The minister said all the projects executed or to be executed under National Highway Authority (NHA) in Sindh were the government’s priority.
The CM said M6 Hyderabad-Sukkur Motorway was a very important road but it was ignored because it was not included in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects. “We want to see the center expedite work on this project,” the CM underlined. He observed that the federal Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) also included construction of a bridge on River Indus and a 190 kilometers road.
Shah pointed out that construction of a interchange on M5 Sukkur-Multan Motorway at Mirpur Mathelo and connecting the motorway with the National Highway were also approved projects. The study for building a bypass in Kambar-Shahdadkot district, Sukkur-Rohri bridge and Lyari Elevated Front Corridor were some other federal projects awaiting execution, he said. He requested the federal government to speed up all those projects. The CM said leaving aside Hyderabad-Sukkur motorway, all other motorway projects had been completed. He pointed out that the M6 connected 6 districts of Sindh. “The people of Sindh are facing problems in traveling because the motorway project hasn’t been completed,” he told.
He apprised that keeping in view the delay in the project he wrote a letter to Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif. He informed that the Sindh government was executing Malir Expressway project under Public Private Partnership (PPP) at the cost of Rs30 billion. The CM also referred to the incomplete Jamshoro-Sehwan dual carriageway whose groundbreaking was performed on December 12, 2017. He recalled that the Sindh government had then contributed Rs7 billion for the project while the remaining funds were supposed to come from the center. Shah said Jamshoro-Sehwan road witnessed frequent accidents, adding that in 2018 he wrote a letter to former PM Imran Khan and apprised him that 196 innocent lives were lost on that road in a year.
The Chairman NHA Capt (r) Muhammad Khurram Agha expressed sadness over delay in completion of Hyderabad-Sukkur Motorway which was 306-km long. He said Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s previous government had called bids but the same process lingered on during Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s government. He assured that the project would be completed in 30 months. The provincial minister Sharjeel Inam Memon and Jam Khan Shoro, Sindh Chief Secretary Sohail Rajput and other officers also attended the meeting.