KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that despite the payment of Rs7 billion to the federal government in April 2017, which is 50 per cent estimated cost of the dualisation of Indus Highway, the work is going on at a snail’s pace.

He said the project was supposed to be completed within 18 months, but the pace of work remained disappointing.

The chief minister told this to Senate Chairman Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani, who met him at CM House here on Sunday along with two Senators — Ahmed Khan Baloch and Kauda Babar.

During the meeting when Senate Chairman Sanjrani drew attention of the chief minister towards growing road accidents on the Indus Highway, the chief minister said that with his personnel efforts the project of dualisation of the Indus Highway from Jamshoro to Sehwan, about 108 km, was approved at the cost of Rs14 billion in 2017.

When the then federal government launched the project through National Highway Authority (NHA), the Sindh government released its share of Rs7bn as 50 per cent of its total cost.

“We have already released Rs7 billion in April 2017 to start the project but the pace of work on the road work is disappointing,” he said.

He said during his meeting with Federal Communication Minister Murad Saeed he drew his attention towards the pace of work on the project and offered the federal government that the Sindh government could complete the project on war footings if the Rs7bn was returned back to the provincial government and also the federal share of Rs7 billion. However, the federal minister assured him that the work on the project would be accelerated. However, the result was not encouraging.

Nai Gaj Dam project

Discussing the Nai Gaj Dam, the chief minister said that it was originally a Rs48bn project lunched by the federal government but due to delay in its completion its cost had increased to Rs60 billion.

“We have already requested the federal government to complete it so that its purpose of irrigating the area land can be achieved,” he told Mr Sanjrani.

The Senate chairman said that he would take up the grievances of the provincial government with the Senate committee and with the federal government for accelerating the work for completion of the project at the earliest.

Referring to the Thar coal power project, Mr Sanjrani congratulated the chief minister on launching and completion of first-ever indigenous coal power project.

The chief minister invited him and Senators to visit Thar and see the development efforts of the provincial government.

Accepting the invitation, the Senate chairman said he would lead a delegation of senators from other provinces and visit Thar by road.

“If you visit Thar by road your delegation would enjoy the travel. We have constructed excellent road from Karachi to Thatta and then to Badin up to Thar where road is built of best quality,” the chief minister said.

In addition to this, the chief minister said that the provincial government had constructed two bridges on River Indus in Thatta and Sujawal districts, roads and an airport in Islamkot and had connected Thar with internal roads.

“Now, Thar gives a look of a well-developed district,” he added.

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2019