ISLAMABAD: The National Highway Authority (NHA) has expedited the work and started taking appropriate measures to ensure timely completion of the western route of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
An official of NHA told APP on Sunday that that work on certain projects of CPEC had already been completed and was in progress on several other sections.
To a question, he said that work on 288-km section of the western corridor from Burhan to Dera Ismail Khan would start soon. He said the 4-lane expressway would be divided into five smaller sections so that work could be completed according to the given time frame. He said that PC-1 for acquiring the land, required for the project, has been approved which will cost around Rs 13 billion.
He said that 335-km section of Karakoram Highway (KKH) from Khunjrab to Rai Kot had been successfully completed whereas the Hazara motorway (Burhan-Havelian section) would be completed next year. He said work on the first two packages would be completed by March 2017 while the package III would be completed by December next year.
He said that 120-km Thakot-Havelian section will get underway very soon. He said that Rs 20.5 billion have been allocated for Thakot-Havelian section construction phase-I of the CPEC out of which 2740 million have been released so far. He said that for land acquisition of the project Rs 5 billion have been allocated out of which Rs 3 billion have been released.
