ISLAMABAD: The 2,681 km-long Pak-China Economic Corridor (PCEC) from Khunjrab to Gwadar, has sparked a new controversy as Senators from two provinces – Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) expressed their resolve to vehemently resist the project if its route was diverted from KP and Balochistan.
During a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Communication, the senators voiced their concerns that smaller provinces were being deprived of the benefit of the project by diverting route to Sindh and Punjab.
They were of the view that there was already a sense of deprivation prevailed in Balochistan and it would be further deepened if the route of the economic corridor was diverted from areas of the province.
Committee’s chairman Senator Daud Khan Achakzai said that economic activities owe to Gwadar Port, but it seemed that the people of Balochistan would not get the benefits.
The senators were all of the opinion that previously, the project route was proposed through DI Khan in KP to Zhob and then Quetta in Balochistan, but it was diverted and the new proposed routes mostly bypass these two provinces.
According to the working paper, the total length of the corridor route is 2,681 km from Khunjrab to Gwadar. Under the new plan, the route will be Khunjrab-Raikot-Thako-Mansehra-Abbottabad-Havelian-Haripur-Islamabad-Pindi Bhattian-Faisalabad-Khanewal-Multan-Sukkur-Shikarpur-Ratodero-Khuzdar and then to Gwadar.
