PESHAWAR, Dec 24: The government will construct the 51-kilometre Peshawar-Torkham Expressway at a cost of Rs.11 billion within two-and-a-half years and the project will be completed in two different phases. The Section-II of the road has been tendered while a separate tender would be invited for Section-I soon, official sources in Fata Secretariat said on Sunday.
The expressway will start from Surkamar near Bagyari and, winding through Shagai Fort, Ali Masjid, Char Bagh and Landi Khana, it will end at the Torkham Post on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. A tunnel has also been proposed at Char Bagh.
The expressway is a proof of commitment that the government is showing towards improving the communication system in the remote mountainous areas. It would not only benefit commuters frequently using the road, but would also ensure more job opportunities, development and improvement in the lifestyle of tribesmen living in the area.
The estimated cost of the 17-kilometre Section-II is Rs5.4 billion while the 34-kilometre-long Section-I will cost Rs5.64 billion and would be tendered later.
The PC-I of the project has been approved by the ECNEC while the design has also been prepared. Both the sections would be completed by July 2009.
A number of flyovers and underpasses have been proposed to facilitate commuters from the villages on both side of the route on the directives of NWFP Governor Lieutenant-Gen (retired) Ali Muhammad Jan Aurakzai.
The government has also ordered redesigning of the entrance gate at Torkham, which links Pakistan with Afghanistan.
The government has allocated billions of rupees for the development of communication system in different tribal agencies and frontier regions. A nine-year sustainable development programme 2007-15 is being launched for long-term developmental schemes in different sectors in Fata.
A sum of Rs1.1 billion has been allocated for implementation of 179 road schemes in the current financial year's budget and communication sector stands second in the order of priority after education.—APP
