Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has laid foundation stone of Hyderabad-SukkurMotorway (M-6).
The ceremony to lay the foundation stone was held at Hyderabad airport onTuesday. Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, federal minister AsadMehmood and federal minister Ameen-ul-Haq among others attended theceremony.
After the completion of this project, Karachi will be linked to Khyber viathe motorway. The M-6 motorway will comprise 306 kilometers in length andthere will be 15 interchanges and 243 underpasses in Hyderabad-SukkurMotorway. The motorway will lead to Sukkur via Mutiyari, Nowshehro Ferozand Kherpur.
Addressing the ceremony, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the developmentof road infrastructure connecting all provinces of the country,particularly the disadvantaged areas, was crucial for strengthening of thenational economy.
Shehbaz said connecting the deprived areas including Balochistan and Sindhwould pave the way for economic and social development besides creating newbusiness opportunities.
The 306-km-long M-6 will be completed with Rs307 billion within 30 monthsas per international standards. The M-6 portion will complete theNorth-South Motorway Corridor, also known as the Karachi-Peshawar motorway,and will interconnect major cities of the country.
Shehbaz in his address at the event said it was a matter of satisfactionfor the coalition government to restore construction work of the M-6motorway that faced a prolonged delay due to the inefficiency of theprevious government. He emphasized ensuring the quality and standard of theM-6 motorway no less than rest of the motorway network in the country.
The prime minister directed the relevant authorities to complete thepublic-private project within the stipulated period of time. He encouragedPlanning Minister Ahsan Iqbal to promote further projects on public-privateprojects so as to achieve the goals of development and prosperity.
He also called for improving road connectivity from Balochistan to the upcountry in order to connect the significant Gwadar port and mainstream theprovince in the national economy.
He announced the completion of the Sukkur-Rohri bridge, which was earlierannounced by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
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Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah regretted that the apathy of theprevious government delayed the construction of M-6 for over three yearsand emphasized that 25,000 jobs related to the project needed to be givento locals. He drew the attention of the government towards the need for thedewatering of flood-hit areas.
Federal Minister for Water Resources Syed Khurshid Shah said the M-6motorway would prove as a milestone in strengthening the economy bypromoting intra-country trade activities.
Federal Minister for Communications Asad Mehmood said the construction ofthe Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway (M-6) was a long-standing demand of thepeople of Sindh province, which has been fulfilled by the present coalitiongovernment.
He expressed satisfaction that Shehbaz Sharif was fulfilling the vision offormer prime minister Nawaz Sharif regarding establishing a large networkof motorways in the country as a step of development.
Federal Secretary for Communications Capt (retd) Khurram Agha said thegovernment would provide only Rs 9.5 billion and the construction would becarried out on a public-private basis.
The six-lane motorway will comprise 15 interchanges, a large bridge overthe Sindh river, 82 bridges over canals, 19 underpass bridges, sixflyovers, and 10 service areas. The project will create around 25,000 jobs.
The M-6 will pass through the districts of Jamshoro, Hyderabad, Matiari,Benazirabad, Nowshero Feroze, Khairpur, and Sukkur. Service areas and restareas will be provided at every 50km on both sides of the highway.
