ISLAMABAD – The government keeping in view the tourism potential willstart work on the Babusar Top tunnel connecting Kaghan Valley with ChilasGilgit Baltistan during next financial year.
“The funds will be allocated in the next Public Sector DevelopmentProgramme for the construction of Babusar Top tunnel to facilitate thetourists as well as the local,” senior official of the Ministry of KashmirAffairs and Gilgit Baltistan told APP.
The Babusar Pass will be made all-weather by constructing an undergroundtunnel to make the transit route travel worthy during critical winterseason, he said.
To a question he said other than improved and better connectivity in theregion Industrial and Economic Zones would be established inGilgit-Baltistan under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projectto uplift the area and bring it at par with developed parts of the country.
Due to tax exemptions, the zones would be more beneficial for the entirecountry especially locals, he said adding the federal government wasdetermined to remove the 72 years deprivation of the local people.
Read Top Stories
To a question, he said despite financial crunch, Gilgit Baltistan had beenprovided development funds. Commenting on new water reservoirs, heexpressed his hope that Diamer-Bhasha Dam would bring prosperity in thearea.
Besides, the government had allocated Rs400 million for construction of250-bed hospital in Skardu to provide best healthcare facilities to localpeople. He said that 50-bed cardiac hospital Phase-I was under constructionat Gilgit Baltistan with the cost of Rs1.5 billion.
Moreover, he said Rs300 million had been allocated in the current PublicSector Development Programme (PSDP) for completion of the cardiac hospitalin Gilgit Baltistan.
