Rs19bn approved to rebuild Chitral-Shandur road
ISLAMABAD: The Central Development Working Party (CDWP) on Tuesday approved 24 projects, including the reconstruction of Chitral-Shandur road.
The over 150-kilometre-long road will be widened and reconstructed at a cost of Rs19.1 billion by the federal government. The project will be completed in phases.The reconstruction of the road which links lower and upper parts of Chitral besides Chitral with Giligit-Baltistan has remained in the planning stage for years. Last year, the road was included in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor and handed over to the National Highway Authority (NHA).
The CDWP meeting was held under the chairmanship of Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Sartaj Aziz.
The other projects presented for approval include those in the sectors such a energy, transport and communication, water resources, physical planning and housing, science and technology, governance, health and mass media.
A project of feasibility study on developing mechanism for tariff based bidding of hydropower projects, review of feasibility studies for hydropower projects through local and foreign experts and capacity building of PPIB employees were also approved with a cost of Rs64.3 million.
The CDWP approved 12 projects in transport and communication sectors out of which six were referred to ECNEC.
Chitral people beware of these lullabies at the approach of general elections.Budget was approved as early as in the Musharraf Regime for Widening and Blacktopping of Booni Shandur Road. Where did that amount go? Why the work was consigned to cold storage for the last more than a decade? At this stage of the PML N government this kind of “Approvals” are nothing more than making fool of the people of Chitral.