CS voices displeasure at NHA’s performance, delay in building Jamshoro-Sehwan dual carriageway

Sindh’s chief secretary Syed Asif Hyder Shah held a meeting with the National Highway Authority on Thursday and reviewed the construction of the dual carriageway road from Jamshoro to Sehwan and the obstacles and tragic accidents happening on the road.

Officials said Chief Secretary Haider Shah said the NHA has delayed a lot the construction of this road and the work could not be completed within the stipulated time. He expressed regret and said that precious lives are being lost due to non-completion of the road. He said he was told that 115 people had died and 317 have been injured from 2019 till now, which is very sad.

Giving a briefing in the meeting, NHA officials said that the dual carriageway will be completed by June 2024. Deputy Inspector General Motorway Muhammad Saleem said that there are ten dangerous sharp turns on the Indus Highway, which cause ninety percent of accidents.

While presiding over the meeting, CS Shah said that water flows should be taken care of in the view of climate change, culverts should be constructed in the carriageway and the road should be constructed considering the rains of 2022. The Motorway Police were directed to increase the number of patrolling police and establish a control room.

Another meeting about the development work carried out in Hyderabad was conducted by the chief secretary. He was briefed by Mayor Hyderabad Kashif Shoro about the construction of Abdul Sattar Edhi Road and said encroachments and the high transmission line of Hesco are a big hindrance to the construction of roads. The chief secretary directed the commissioner of Hyderabad, Ahsan Qureshi, to make it convenient to remove those obstacles.

Meanwhile, the CS presided over a meeting at the Shahbaz Hall about restoration and beautification of Dargah Lal Shahbaz Qalandar and the dual carriageway road from Jamshoro to Sehwan. Addressing the meeting, he said that pilgrims face a lot of difficulties in reaching the shrine during the annual Urs and the purpose of this meeting is to widen the roads and streets leading to the Dargah, remove encroachments and restore the city.

For this, the road leading from the bypass to the shrine should be widened and footpaths should be constructed. He said that parking of vehicles, renovation of bus stands and drainage schemes should be restored.

The chief secretary said a road should leading from the shrine to the fort should also be constructed. He directed the officials of the Auqaf Department to arrange a regular procedure and arrangements for the pilgrims to visit the shrine.

He instructed the chairman of the Sehwan Municipal Committee to focus on tax collection in Sehwan municipality. He directed Secretary Works and Service Syed Ijaz Shah to ensure that the works and services department drew up a scheme for the widening of the road leading to the Dargah. He also directed the chairman to make a scheme for a Sehwan bus stand and hand it over to the secretary of the local government.