KARACHI: The Sindh government has agreed to the federal government’s proposal to construct M-6 Motorway on a separate track from Karachi, instead of initiating it from Hyderabad to Sukkur.

The press statement issued from CM House on Thursday said that Federal Communication Minister Aleem Khan during his meeting with Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah proposed that the motorway might be started from Karachi via Hyderabad to Sukkur, instead of contracting it from Hyderabad to Sukkur, to facilitate the port traffic also. The CM agreed to the proposal and discussed the modality of its construction.

The proposal was floated apparently in the backdrop of a Sindh High Court bench’s concern over the mere conversion of Superhighway into the M-9 Motorway during the hearing of around 70 petitions filed between 2017 and 2021, mostly relating to land disputes around the motorway. The bench had wondered why the National Highway Authority (NHA) converted an already functioning Superhighway into the motorway and asked as to why the authority was not constructing a new motorway between Karachi and Hyderabad.

During the discussion between the chief minister and the federal minister, it was agreed that the M-6 Motorway would be constructed from Karachi to Hyderabad and Sukkur in Public-Private Partnership mode. Finally, another proposal was discussed under which the federal and provincial governments might form a consortium to construct the road on equal partnership, with the CM saying that his team would study the proposal and get back to the federal ministry.

They agreed to explore the possibility of constructing the motorway through a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) or a consortium to be formed by the provincial and federal governments. The CM said that his team would study the options and ways to make this happen.

The meeting was attended among others by Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah, Secretary to CM Raheem Shaikh, Works Secretary Mohammad Ali Shaikh, Federal Communication Secretary Ali Sher Mehsud and NHA Chairman Shaharyar Sultan.

It may be noted that the Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway project envisages the construction of a 306-kilometer long, six-lane wide, access-controlled motorway. The motorway is proposed as a high-speed toll road facility for efficient and safe transportation, which will start from Hyderabad and terminate at Naro Canal.

It was pointed out that the Public Private Partnership (PPP) agreement for the construction of the Motorway (M-6) project was signed with a private consortium in December 2022 but due to some reason, the work could not be started and the partnership was cancelled.

The chief minister urged the federal minister to approve handing over of the Lyari Expressway so that it could be opened for heavy traffic, saying that the provincial government would upgrade the Lyari Expressway within six months and then open it for heavy traffic also.

The federal minister told the CM that the federal communication secretary would hold a meeting with the Sindh chief secretary to discuss the ways and means to hand over the expressway to Sindh government.

The CM and the federal minister also discussed the NOC issue of Link Road interchange pending in the NHA. The minister said that before his meeting with the CM, he had issued the NOC by the NHA.

In the meeting, the CM pointed out that the work on the 90-km road from Gharo to Keti Bundar was started in 2015 and 15 years had passed but it was not completed yet.

The CM was told that out of 90 km of the road, 59 km had been completed up to the Gharo at Baghan City. The remaining 31 km of road from Baghan to Keti Bandar was yet to be completed. The communication secretary told the chief minister that the tender for the remaining road had been initiated and work would be started shortly.

The condition of the road from Thatta to Keenjhar constructed by the NHA recently also came under discussion.

The works secretary told the meeting that the road had developed craters at different locations due to recent heavy rains.

The chairman of the NHA told the CM that he had ordered an inquiry.

The CM proposed to the federal minister to hand over the road from Thatta to Kotri to the provincial government, which would construct it on its own.

The federal minister said that the roads which the provincial government was willing to construct would be allowed. Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah and the federal Communication Secretary would discuss the matter and decide as per the policy.

The CM said that work on the Ghotki-Kandhkot bridge project was in progress and the NHA had to issue an NOC for the construction of the Thul Link Road. At this, the minister for communication said that the NHA had issued the NOC. When the CM raised the issue of the pending completion of Jamshoro-Sehwan Road, the federal minister assured him that it would be completed by March 2025.

Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2024