Ahsan Iqbal orders faster work on Shandur-Gilgit road and NHA projects

Federal planning minister Ahsan Iqbal has directed the National Highway Authority to clear the bottlenecks holding up projects under the Public Sector Development Programme and to speed work on the Shandur-Gilgit road and other national routes, ARY News reported.

At a review meeting on 30 October, the minister said unjustified cost escalations, non-transparent financial claims and weak project oversight would not be tolerated.

The 216 km Shandur-Gilgit road, costed at Rs49,946.070 million, has reached 67.33 per cent physical progress, the meeting was told. The 153 km Chitral-Booni Mastuj-Shandur road, costed at Rs17,783.193 million, is 40 per cent complete. Ahsan Iqbal said work on both routes had to accelerate to improve connectivity and economic activity in remote areas.

He reviewed the dualisation and rehabilitation of the 273 km Karachi-Quetta-Chaman road (N-25), costed at Rs183,421.427 million, which has achieved 19.25 per cent physical progress, and asked for faster work on the Karachi-Kararo and Wadh-Khuzdar sections.

On the Indus Highway (N-55), the 221.9 km Shikarpur-Rajanpur additional carriageway, costed at Rs44,703.890 million, is 62 per cent complete. The 121.5 km Rajanpur-Dera Ghazi Khan section, costed at Rs63,150.570 million, is still awaiting letters of award because of land acquisition and resettlement issues. The 208.19 km Dera Ghazi Khan-Dera Ismail Khan section, costed at Rs111,940.070 million, has been awarded and contractors are mobilising.

The 306 km Hyderabad-Sukkur motorway (M-6), with a PC-I cost of Rs363,700 million, and the electrical and mechanical works at the Lowari tunnel, costed at Rs33,250 million, are both at the procurement stage. The minister ordered procedural bottlenecks removed so procurement can move.

The 210 km dualisation of N-50 from Yarik through Sagu to Zhob, including the Zhob bypass and costed at Rs76,486.231 million, has reached 10 per cent physical progress. Ahsan Iqbal asked for clear action plans and firm timelines, and told officials to submit actionable proposals on outstanding issues and financial claims for the bypass within 15 days.

He directed that contractors' cost claims be put through technical, contractual and financial scrutiny, and backed independent third-party validation of project costs, construction quality and quantities. Engineers, project directors and consultants, he said, must discharge their responsibilities, with accountability strengthened at every stage.

Highway projects, the minister said, were not only infrastructure schemes but a cornerstone of economic growth, investment and regional trade, and their timely completion would cut transport costs and improve access to markets.