Urgent construction of Karachi-Chaman road ordered – Pakistan

QUETTA: The Balochistan High Court has ordered National Highway Authority (NHA) officials to explain why the Rs19 billion fund has not been used and to immediately begin the construction on the Karachi-Quetta-Chaman (N-25) dual carriageway.

A division bench of the BHC, comprising Justice Abdullah Baloch and Justice Rozi Khan Barrech, took notice of the incomplete construction of the dual carriageway on the Quetta-Karachi National Highway. The bench directed NHA officials to submit pre-qualification proposals via tender by May 26, 2024, for the construction of the N-25 Karachi-Quetta-Chaman highway, covering the Karachi-Uthal, Uthal-Kararo, and Wadh-Khuzdar sections.

Officials from the Planning and Development Department, Economics Division, Finance Division, Islamabad, and the NHA appeared before the court.

The court was told that the government had allocated Rs19bn to the NHA for the Karachi-Quetta-Chaman highway, N-25, but the NHA had failed to use this amount. The court considered this to be negligence and incompetence on the part of the department rather than simply the non-utilization of the allocated funds.

Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2024