Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that work on dualisation of Indus Highway is going on at snail's pace in spite of payment of 50 percent estimated cost of the project to the federal government by the provincial government as its share.
"We have offered the federal government to give Rs 7 billion back which Sindh government has paid as its share and also give their 50 percent share to us so that we complete the project at earliest," he told the Senate chairman Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani who called on him along with two senators and Mirza Mohammad Afridi, at the CM House, here.
The chief minister said that that federal minister for communication Murad Saeed assured him that work on the project would be accelerated but still the result was not encouraging.
Chairman Senate told the chief minister that through media he was learning about growing road accidents on the Indus Highway which were claiming innocent live every day. The latter said that with his personnel efforts, the project of dualisation of Indus Highway from Jamshoro to Sehwan (around 108 km) was approved at Rs 14 billion in 2017.
He recalled that the then federal government through National Highway Authority (NHA) launched the project after the provincial government had shared Rs 7 billion, the 50 percent of its total cost, in April 2017 but the pace of work on the road is disappointing.
Murad Shah further said that as a matter of fact the project was scheduled to be completed within 18 months. Discussing the Nai Gaj, the chief minister said it was originally the Rs 48 billion project lunched by the federal government but due to delay in its completion its cost has increased to Rs 60 billion. He said Sindh government already requested the federal government to complete Nai Gaj scheme to irrigate the land which was its stated purpose.
Sadiq Sanjrani said he would take up grievances of the provincial government with the Senate committee and would get these projects completed.
Chairman Senate congratulated the chief minister on launching the first-ever indigenous Thar coal power project. The latter invited him and senators to visit Thar and see his development efforts on ground.
The chairman accepted the invitation and said he would lead a delegation of the senators from other provinces and visit Thar by road.
The chief minister said if he would visit by road he would and his delegation would enjoy travelling because Sindh government had constructed excellent road from Karachi to Thatta and then to Badin and up to Thar, road is of the best quality. He said his government has constructed two bridges on River Indus in Thatta and Sujawal districts, roads, airport in Islamkot and have connected Thar with internal roads. "Now, Thar gives a look of a well-developed district," he said.