An important highway

It is unfortunate that one of the best options available for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) route was ignored.

The 1,264-km National Highway (N-55), popularly known as the Indus Highway, which connects Karachi to Peshawar was the best available route for CPEC, and could have connected all other cities through a network of arteries and expressways, making it a model route necessitated for trade and commerce. It would have been the shortest possible central route for CPEC, connecting western and eastern routes necessary for the coverage of the entire country.

CPEC was formally launched in Pakistan in 2015. Initially, it was a $46 billion project, but it was considerably expanded with time. It was meant for infrastructure development, creation of special economic zones (SEZs) and much-needed energy projects, becoming a perfect economic corridor.

Infrastructure development under CPEC consists of road and transport networks planned for transportation of goods and services from China to Pakistan. This is a cost-cutting measure to fast-track and promote trade through this infrastructure. Pakistan has planned to set up around 27 SEZs, out of which nine are prioritized, across the country as part of infrastructure development.

The development plan under CPEC also has a road network from Gilgit-Baltistan to Gwadar. However, there was already road infrastructure available in the form of the Indus Highway, which could have been improved and utilized as a central route as it connects Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) to Punjab and Sindh, and is in close proximity to Balochistan.

One wonders why this route, which could have saved time and reduced transportation cost, was ignored by policymakers and planners. It was the best connection available for the transportation network; eastern and western routes could have been aligned accordingly.

The western alignment of CPEC connecting Khunjrab to Gwadar is about 2,463 km. It starts from Khunjerab, passes through Burhan (Hakla), Dera Ismail Khan (Yarik), Zhob, Quetta, Surab and Hoshab, and connects with Gwadar. The 1,633km-long central alignment starts from Burhan (Hakla) and ends in Gwadar. It passes through Pindigheb, Kot Addu, Dera Ghazi Khan, Rajanpur, Wangu Hills, Khuzdar, Basima and Hoshab before reaching Gwadar. The Khunjrab-Gwadar eastern alignment of CPEC is aroundt 2,686 km. It passes through Thakot, Mansehra, Burhan, Pindi Bhattian, Faisalabad, Multan, Sukkur, Shikarpur, Ratto Dero, Khuzdar, Basima and Hoshab.

These routes and their distances speak to how the Indus Highway was ignored as the central shortest possible route for CPEC. If Burhan or Hakla was taken as a central or pivotal point for all alignments, the motorway connecting the Indus Highway with Burhan would have been about 150 km long. It could have connected Quetta through D G Khan with only 350 km, ultimately ending up in Gwadar. The distance between Quetta and Gwadar is 750 km; this motorway would have been about 1,500 km, saving time and cost. The same could have been planned for all other arteries of the road network, making it the best possible route for CPEC.

The Indus Highway from D G Khan could be connected with the Multan-Sukkur Motorway from Multan through Muzaffargarh with only 85 km, making it the best possible expressway. The same could be the case for Sukkur, linking it with the Indus Highway with only around 70 km through another expressway. Karachi is already connected with Gwadar through the Coastal Highway. All other arteries could be connected with the Indus Highway as the centrally focused road right from Peshawar to Karachi.

It is unfortunate that there is no central route except for one low-quality road from Burhan/Hakla to D I Khan, which was constructed again on the demand of another political leader from that area who was an ally of the government at that time. The same happened to SEZs. These economic zones could be on and around the Indus Highway, which would have been the best option for economic uplift and trade for the country.

Article 156 of the constitution says that the National Economic Council (NEC) headed by the prime minister of Pakistan should oversee development in all areas, but it has been ignored again and again. It is time the leadership came out of this regional or parochial thinking.

Visionary leadership needs to take along all areas of Pakistan, keeping in view the development paradigm. There is an immediate need for correcting the wrongs done by our leadership in the past. Areas like erstwhile Fata, southern Punjab and Balochistan must be prioritized for development purposes. It is important to take decisions in the right direction.

The writer is a former additional secretary and can be reached at: hassanbaig2009@gmail.com