Chinese firm to construct 130 km portion of Super Highway at cost of Rs 6.3bn: NA told

ISLAMABAD: Parliamentary Secretary for Communication Ch. Saeed Iqbal on Wednesday informed the National Assembly that a Chinese company would construct 130 kilometer portion of Super Highway from Karachi to Punjab at a cost of Rs 6.3 billion.

Responding to an 'attention notice' of Nawab Abdul Ghani Talpur and others regarding dilapidated condition of bridges and Super Highway from Karachi to Punjab, he said, Chinese grant and workers of the company had reached Pakistan and work would be started soon.

He said that the Ministry of Communication has also taken a grant of Rs 3.1 billion from Asian Development Bank for repair and construction of the road.

He said the recent rains and floods in Sindh has badly damaged the roads and bridges in Sindh, however, he added that patch work on the Super Highway was in progress.

The Parliamentary Secretary said there was 174 bridges on the Super Highway from Karachi to Punjab out of which six bridges have been damaged by the recent rains.

He said the Ministry has released Rs 45 million for construction of three bridges while work on the remaining three damaged bridges would also be started very soon.

Regarding start of work on M-9, he said seven companies have submitted bids for it and the construction work would be started soon.