Work on CPEC’s western route moves ahead

islamabad — The construction and land acquisition work for the western route of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is under way and major amount of work would be completed by next year.

The shortest of all CPEC routes is the Western Alignment which is 2,463km in length and starts from Khunjrab and after passing through Burhan (Hakla), D.I. Khan (Yarik), Zhob, Quetta, Surab and Hoshab it terminates at Gwadar.

A Planning Commission official said the 615km Khunjrab-Raikot section of the western route has already been completed while the 40km Havelian-Abbottabad-Mansehra section will be completed by May 2018. Work on the construction of all five sections of Hakla-D.I.Khan Expressway has begun, he added.

The official said the project is an important part of CPEC’s western route and a 285-km-long Motorway will be completed in two years at a cost of more than Rs142 billion. He said the project alignment starts at Hakla, near Tarnol interchange on M-1 and passes through Fateh Jhang, Mianwali, Kundal and ends at Yarak at Indus Highway (N-55).

He said alignment of Motorway will generate employment opportunities for the local people. Availability of high-speed transportation will pave the way for improvement in health and education sectors, and local produces will easily be taken to big markets.

He said that rehabilitation of D.I.Khan-Mughalkot section of N-50 would be completed by 2018. Moreover, he said, dualisation of 531km-long D.I.Khan to Kuchlak section of N-50 would become operational by 2020.

Among other, the CPEC aims to promote trade ties with Central Asian and south Asian countries and turn Pakistan into a trade hub in the region, he said.

Similarly, the Sorab-Hoshab highway has been completed at an estimated cost of Rs22 billion.

The highway is 449-kilometrelong and links Gwadar port to the north. The official said that with the completion of the highway, the travel time from Gwadar to Quetta has been reduced to 10 hours from 48 hours. — APP