ISLAMABAD – The under-construction Hakla-Dera Ismail Khan Motorway project,part of the western alignment of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor(CPEC), is likely to be completed by end of this year.
An official of National Highway Authority (NHA) told APP on Thursday thatthe motorway would reduce travel time between Islamabad and Dera IsmailKhan and boost economic activities in less developed areas of the provincesof Punjaband Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The four-lane 285-kilometre north-south motorway starts from the Hakla onPeshawar-Islamabad Motorway, near Fateh Jang interchange, and termites atYarik near Dera Ismail Khan.
From Hakla, Fateh Jang, the motorway extends in a southwestern directionpassing the towns of Pindi Gheb, Tarap, and Mianwali. Then the route willtransverse the Sindh Sagar Doab region, and cross the Indus River near DhupSarri village near Isa Khail before entering into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Themotorway will continue onwards before terminating near the town of Yarik,north of Dera Ismail Khan.
For ensuring timely completion, he said, the Hakla-DI Khan Motorway had beendivided into five sections including Yarik-Rehmani Khail section, RehmaniKhail-Kot Belian section, Kot Belian-Tarap section, Tarap-Pindi Ghebsection and Pindi Gheb-Hakla Interchange section.
He said the motorway includes 11 interchanges, 19 flyovers (6 lanes), 15bridges (4 lane), 74 underpasses, 259 culverts, and three major bridges (6lane); one at River Sawan, one at River Indus and third at River Koram.
The expressway will have a 100m wide right of way in order to widen thefour-lane road to six lanes in future.
He said work on the 55-kilometre Yarik-Rehmanikhel section awarded to M/sNLC, started in October 2016 and it is scheduled to be accomplished bymid-May thisyear.
The cost of the project funded by the Public Sector Development Programme(PSDP), is Rs 12,758 million and so far over 77 per cent physical progresshas been achieved.
He said that about 60 km Package-II of the motorway namely Rehmanikhel-KotBelian package which had been awarded to M/s SKB-KNK JV had further beendivided into four sections. Work on its first section started in January2017 and is expected to be completed by June this year. The section costingRs 9232 million has achieved about 55 per cent physical progress. Itssecond section costing Rs 7250 million has so far achieved over 70 per centprogress. Work on the third section of the Package-II started in July 2017and is expected to be completed by December this year.
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The section would cost Rs7137.85 million and so far over 30 per physicalprogress has been achieved.
Section four of Rehmanikhel-Kot Belian Package would cost Rs4441.77 millionand so far about over 87 per cent progress has been achieved. Work on thesection started in July 2017 and is expected to be completed by Octoberthis year.
The NHA official said Package –III of the motorway, 55-kilometre KotBelian-Tarap section has been awarded to M/s FWO. The package will costRs20628.94 million and so far over 47 per cent physical progress has beenachieved.
Work on the package, he said, started in October 2016 and is likely to bescheduled to be completed by end of June this year but it is likely todelay.
He said the 62-kilometre Tarap-Pindi Gheb section had been awarded to M/sLimak-ZKB JV and the section would cost 21386.22 million. Its work startedin November 2016 while its completion date is the end of September. So far48 per cent physical progress of the package has been achieved.
He said the 63-km Package-V Pindi Gheb-Hakla Interchange section costingRs 16886.80 million had been awarded to M/s Limak-ZKB JV.
Work on the package started in January 2017 and was scheduled to becompleted by end of January this year but so far less than 40 per centphysical progress could be achieved.
