The Senate's Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat was informed on Wednesday that the engine of ATR aircraft, which had crashed during flight from Chitral to Islamabad in 2016, was fit to fly before taking off. The committee met here under the chairmanship of Senator Muhammad Talha Mahmood. The meeting was attended by the senator Mir Muhammad Yousaf Badini, Senator Kalsoom Parveen, and Senator Samina Saeed.
The Secretary Aviation Division while briefing the committee rejected the speculations that the aircraft's engine was faulty and said there was no fault detected in the engine prior to flight.
He said the final investigation report of the crash would be received in April this year, which would be shared with the committee. The secretary said the meteorological department worked under the Aviation Division as no plane could fly without the prior report of Met department. Senator Kalsoom Parveen said the Met department should also be linked with the environment department so that the people of northern areas could become aware of floods in advance.
The Secretary Aviation said PC-1 of 130 million dollar had been prepared under which around seven modern radars would be installed in the country. The radar was being installed in Islamabad which was near completion while installation of the second one would be completed in Karachi in next two years. The committee chairman said the northern areas were in dire need of the modern radar to get prior information about the flood situation.
On the request of Director General Pakistan Meteorological Department, the committee also recommended hardship allowance for the Met employees working in the far flung areas including northern areas and Balochistan.
The committee was also informed that Bacha Khan Airport was being upgraded with modern facilities at a cost of Rs 2.5 billion. Some 60 percent of its work had been completed while remaining would be completed till April this year, he added. The DG Aviation informed the body that expansion project of Allama Iqbal Airport Lahore, costing Rs 36 billion, would be completed in three years.
The committee directed the Secretary Aviation to hold a meeting with the ambassador of Tajikistan for launching of a direct flight from Pakistan to Central Asia. The body also directed the Shaheen Airways to start flights from Islamabad to Quetta as only PIA flights were not enough for the province. The committee chairman directed the Aviation Division to formulate a policy for decreasing of air fares for Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan. The body was informed that work on Gwadar Airport would start during this year.
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