ISLAMANAD: Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal, while speaking at a seminar, has said that the government has decided to use the existing motorways to connect the north and south of the country as route of Pak-China Economic Corridor.
The seminar was attended by members of opposition parties, foreign dignitaries and experts. The federal minister said that in the first phase, the existing Motorway from Lahore to Peshawar would be linked with Motorway from Lahore to Karachi.
However, Awami National Party (ANP) Senator Haji Adeel strongly opposed the changes in route of the corridor arguing that the original route of Pak-China Economic Corridor passes through Gwadar, Quetta, Zhob and Dera Ismail Khan.
“We will not tolerate the alignment in the original route. The route should spread across the country and only few cities should not be preferred. We will take to streets and will protest the changes in the route,” the ANP leader said.
He said Karakorum Highway was being upgraded up to Havelian with Chinese assistance while N-85 will also be completed within three years linking Ratodero with Gwadar.
The seminar was attended by political leaders representing Balochistan and members of Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam (JUI-F) who said that exclusion of parts of Balochistan would further aggravate the sense of deprivation among Baloch community.
It is pertinent to mention that as of July 2014, operational motorways in Pakistan had a combined length of 679.5 km with another 278 km under construction. Another 1,502 km of motorways and expressways are planned over the next 10 years.
