KP CM gives go ahead for hiring consultant for Chakdara-Rabaat Expressway
PESHAWAR, Aug 10 (APP): Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan has given go ahead for hiring of consultancy to conduct commercial and financial feasibility for the construction of an expressway from Chakdara to Rabaat (Lower Dir).
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The proposed Expressway will connect Chakdara to Rabaat via Ramla and Ouch villages through a five kilometer long tunnel. The Chief Minister gave the approval for feasibility study of the project while chairing a meeting regarding the proposed project held here Monday.
The 26-kilometer long Expressway will be constructed with an estimated cost of Rs.10.5 billions. Initially it will be constructed from Chakdara Interchange of Swat Motorway to Rabaat, and will further be extended in the next phases.
The meeting was attended by Special Assistants to CM Kamran Bangash and Shafiullah, Members National Assembly from Dir Muhammad Bashir Khan, Sahibzada Sibghatullah, and Mehboob Shah, Members Provincial Assembly, Humayun Khan, Muhammad Azam Khan and Liaqat Ali, Additional Chief Secretary, Shakil Qadir, Secretary Communication and Works Ejaz Hussain Ansari, Principal Secretary to CM, Shahab Ali Shah, Special Secretary Muhammad Khaliq, Managing Director, Pakhtunkhwa Highways Authority and other relevant authorities.
The meeting was given detailed briefing on three various options of routes for the construction of the proposed Expressway, and the forum agreed to the shortest route i.e. Chakdara to Rabaat via Ramla and Ouch.
It is worth mentioning here that Prime Minister Imran Khan during a call on meeting with the parliamentarians from Dir in February 2020 had issued directives to start home work on the project.
In the light of the directives of Prime Minister, Communication and Works Department and Pakhtunkhwa Highways Authority started spade work on the project and came up with three possible options.
The meeting was informed that PC-II for the feasibility of the project had already been prepared and submitted to the concerned forum.
The meeting was told that financial and commercial feasibility of the project would be completed in three months period, and the proposed Expressway will be an alternate to the existing N-45 from Chakdara to Rabaat. It will have a five kilometer long tunnel which will reduce a travel distance of 23 kilometer approximately.
Talking on the occasion, the Chief Minister termed the proposed Expressway as an important project to boost tourism and commercial activities in the region and said that on completion, the project will provide better and quality communication facilities to the people of Lower Dir, Upper Dir, Bajaur and Chitral.
He made it clear that the Expressway would be a project of the Provincial government apart from the proposed Chakdara-Chitral road under CPEC project.
He said that the proposed Chakdara-Chitral road project is intact and no funds of the project have been diverted to any other project.
He reiterated his resolve to develop all the districts and areas of the province equally and said that no injustice with regard to developmental projects would be done to any district.
He rebutted the allegations of opposition with regard to diversion of funds of Chakdara-Chitral road project to any other project and said that some political elements, through baseless propaganda, are trying to mislead the public for their political point scoring.