Multiple Toll Plazas on Karachi-Hyderabad M-9 to be replaced with one: Murad

• He said the previous government in haste had converted the old National Highway into new Karachi-Hyderabad Motorway (M-9) without planning.
• He said however widening and improvement of 130 KM road is under consideration through Korean Exim Bank financing.
• He informed the house that Gilgit to Chitral via Shandur road measuring 370 KM is declared as a CPEC alternative route.

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Communication Murad Saeed on Monday assured the parliament that multiple toll plazas on Karachi-Hyderabad Motorway (M-9) will be replaced with one plaza soon.

He said the previous government in haste had converted the old National Highway into new Karachi-Hyderabad Motorway (M-9) without planning.

The M-9 project was executed on Built, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis according to which the company awarded the contract built a new toll plaza for toll collection for 20 years, the minister said.

He said his team was trying to improve the situation at M-9 and preparing a comprehensive report highlighting the flaws in previous agreement and solution to the problems which would be presented in the parliament as well.

He said M-9 is jammed due to traffic load because of the axle load and shortage of lanes however a correspondence was started with the Sindh Government to increase the lanes in the Motorway.

Earlier responding to another question that whether the road from Chakdra to Chitral was made one way, the minister said that N-45 is a single carriageway and no proposal for dualization of this road is under consideration as yet.

He said however widening and improvement of 130 KM road is under consideration through Korean Exim Bank financing.

He informed the house that Gilgit to Chitral via Shandur road measuring 370 KM is declared as a CPEC alternative route.