CM wants Kandhkot-Ghotki bridge constructed by November

Karachi 

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on Monday issued directives for construction of a bridge over the River Indus, connecting Kandhkot with Ghotki, by the end of November. The project would be build under a public private partnership.

The CM further directed the Works and Services Department to repair the link road between National Highway and Super Highway, Karachi, on war footings since heavy industrial traffic from the Steel Mills and Port Qasim industrial areas passes through the road.

He issued the directives while presiding over a meeting on road development at the Sindh Secretariat.

The meeting was attended by Minister for Planning and Development Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani, Minister for Works and Services Imdad Pitafi, provincial chief secretary Siddique Memon, assistant chief secretary (Development) Mohammad Waseem, chief engineer highways Prem Talreja and others.

Murad observed that vehicles transporting goods from Kandhkot cause massive gridlocks up to Punjab, therefore, there was a dire need to construct a bridge on the River Indus to directly connect Kandhkot with Ghotki.

The CM further issued orders to make necessary progress on the public private partnership mode but by the time the essentials were being finalized, work on the project should be started.

“I want to have it functional by the end of November,” he observed.

The proposed bridge would be two-kilometre long, while the road approaching from Ghotki would be 10 kilometres long and that from Kandhkot, 13 kilometres.

Bijarani, however, proposed that a simple construction of a bridge would further increase traffic flow to Kandhkot, hence, a bypass should also be constructed on Kandhkot-Thul road to connect it with the Indus Highway.

The bypass was also asked to be included in the proposal by the CM.

Talreja briefing the chief minister about the 134.5 kilometre Nawabshah Ranipur stretch said that it had been left incomplete.

He suggested the road be divided into two portions from Nawabshah to Padeddan - 67.5 km long - and Padeddan to Ranipur - 67 km. 

Responding to chief engineer highway’s briefing, Murad informed him that the proposed bridge was also to be on the PPP mode for a cost of Rs7 billion, and that work on its proposal was in progress.

He said the work on the bridge would be started as soon as an investment was offered.

He said that in order to complete the remaining work a separate PC-I, with an estimated amount of Rs1.79 billion, was being prepared.

The CM asked the Works & Service Department to approve the PC-I as soon as possible after which funds would be provided.

He gave additional directives to have the road constructed by the end of the financial year.

The chief engineer said the second portion of the project (Padeddan to Ranipur) could also be completed early if the required funds were released in time.

The P&D department was directed to work out the expenditures on the schemes and report to the CM regarding arrangement of funds.