Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, while addressing a pre-election rally in Mansehra, promised that he would build a motorway from Lahore to Karachi if elected to power.
The Plan
Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal told Truth Tracker that infrastructure development across the country was a top priority of their government. He said work on a six-lane Lahore-Karachi motorway project had been started and that project planning was under way.
He said, “Nawaz Sharif signed a memorandum of understanding with China pertaining to the billion dollar project during his visit to China.” He said the project would be completed in 2015 and that the planned Lahore-Karachi Motorway would also link with another highway connecting Kashgar to Karachi via Gawadar.
Background
The National Highway Authority maintains the country’s7,000 kilometer-long national highway network and motorway system which carries 75-80% of the total commercial traffic. According to the Authority, about two-thirds of the network is not in good condition due to multiple factors. The motorways of Pakistan are a network of multiple-lane, high-speed, limited-access or controlled-access highways. The National Highway Authority falls under the Ministry of Communications which is responsible for formulating central policy-making and acts as an administrative authority on communications and the transport sector in the country.
According to the National Highway Authority, details of the motorway are as follows:
M-1 is from Islamabad to Peshawar. It is 154 Km access controlled motorway.
M-2 is from Lahore to Islamabad. It is 335 km long.
M-3 is from Pindi Bhattian to Faisalabad. It is 52 km.
M-4 has been planned from Faisalabad to Multan with a total length of 200 km.
M-5 has been planned from Multan to D G Khan with a total length of 84 km.
M-6 is planned from D G Khan to Ratodero with total length of 450 km.
M-7 is planned from Kakkar to Dureji to Karachi with a total length of 300 km.
M-8 is planned from Gawadar to Ratodero with a total length of 892 km.
M-9 is planned from Karachi to Hyderabad with the length of 135 km.
Tracking
National Highway Authority’s acting chairman and member (planning) Raja Nowsherwan told Truth Tracker “We are working on feasibility report but nothing is final right now. We are holding meetings with the Planning Commission, Prime Minister and all other concerned departments. Work on the Karachi to Lahore motorway would start after the Prime Minister approves the feasibility report of the project.”
Independent viewpoint
Contractor and Chief Executive Officer of Azhaar Construction Company, Amir Azhaar, told Truth Tracker by phone, “Railway is the cheapest source of transportation in any country but in our country it is in shambles. We should first focus on railways. Then, we should complete those motorways on which work is already in progress. For example, work on the Karachi to Multan motorway is very slow.”
“There is no harm in constructing more motorways as infrastructure plays a role in the backbone in any country’s progress,” he added. “Pakistan’s major exports are made through Karachi and the Lahore to Karachi motorway will definitely increase our exports.”
Truth Tracker is a joint project of UPI Next and and its partner Domestic and International Security Communication research unit within the School of Politics and International Relations, Quaid-I-Azam University in Islamabad. Read More
Reporters for Truth Tracker are working with citizen monitors from the Pak Votes project of Bytes4All
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