ISLAMABAD, Sep 25 (APP): The National Highway Authority (NHA) is poised to complete around 39 development projects worth over Rs 1,406.3 billion during the current fiscal year.
According to documents available with Wealth Pakistan, these schemes were approved last year and subsequently executed. Originally, they were part of the Public Sector Development Program (PSDP).
The approved cost of the schemes was Rs1,111.8 billion, which was later revised to Rs1,406.3 billion.
As per the documents, the allocated cost of Rs1,406.3 billion includes foreign aid of Rs56.7 billion and local funding of Rs1,349.6 billion.
Out of the approved allocation of Rs1,406.3 billion for the 39 projects, the road authority had spent about Rs1,073.8 billion by July this year.
Significant progress has been made on these projects, and the remaining work is expected to be completed by the end of the current year.
Some of the projects that have been largely completed and were expected to finish in the coming months included the dualization and improvement of old Bannu Road (Package-I, Package-II, and Package-III), construction of the motorway from Burhan Hakla on M-1 to Dera Ismail Khan, construction of the Kot Pindi Das interchange on Motorway M-2 in Sheikhupura district, upgradation and widening of the Jaglot-Skardu Road, dualization of the Indus Highway (Sarai Gambila to Kohat section), rehabilitation and upgradation of the 54.8km Awaran Jhalijao Road, the 221km Indus Highway additional carriageway project, construction of the Shandur-Gilgit Road, dualization of the Khuzdar-Kuchlak section of N-25, and construction of the Sailkot-Kharian Motorway, among others.
Moreover, the NHA has proposed five new schemes with an initial cost of Rs49 billion.
However, these were still under review by the Ministry of Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives for final approval.
The Authority would proceed further once approval is granted by the planning ministry.
The five proposed schemes included construction of a slide shelter structure and allied protection works on the Jaglot-Skardu Road (S-1), repair of adjoining roads connecting GT Road N-5 (Shahdra Town, Lahore), widening of M-1 and M-2 and the link road due to the merger of the Rawalpindi Ring Road, construction of enhanced slope stability and protection measures using open-cut tunnels and advanced techniques on the Kohala-Muzaffarabad Road and dualization of the Sialkot-Eimanabad route up to Kamoke, including the link road.
