KHAIRPUR, May 4 The Sindh government has approved an engineering college for Khairpur and initially issued Rs6 million for its construction and running affairs.

Sources said admissions for the first term of academic year 2009-10 would be started soon in the building of the Bureau of Curriculum.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah and People's Party MNA Nafisa Shah had taken interest in the establishment of the engineering college to be affiliated with Mehran University of Engineering and Technology (MUET) Jamshoro.

MUET Vice-Chancellor Dr Abdul Qadeer and a team of the university visited different places in Khairpur and surrounding areas on Sunday for selecting a site to construct the engineering college.

EDO (Revenue) Ahmed Ali Qureshi confirmed on Monday that a site near Police Training College, Khairpur, had almost been finalised for the college.

He said that more than 55 acres of land belonging to the revenue department was available in that area, while the remaining 45 acres would be purchased to build the college and a hostel on 100 acres of land.

He said that after formal approval of the site, engineering experts of the MUET would prepare a feasibility report.

Sources said the institution would be named as Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Engineering College. The college would facilitate engineering studies particularly to the students from upper Sindh, including Sukkur, Shikarpur, Jacobabad, Ghotki, Kandhkot and Kashmore.