Sindh government to build 278.6-km coastal highway

Sindh Chief Minister has approved a summary for the construction of Sindh Coastal Highway, with new alignment of Super Highway, to Sehwan and new alternative road via Khokhrapar-Malir-Memon Goth-Darsano Chano-Haleji-Jhimpir-Jhirk-Mulla Katyar-Umerkot.
According to the feasibility report, the length of the highway is 278.6 km, whose cost has been estimated at Rs 3.053 billion, while the annual recurring expenditure after completion would be Rs 45.7 million. The pavement width would be 5.5 metres.
The summary was sent to the Chief Minister by Works and Services Department, and it proposed that the federal government may be approached to include the scheme in next year's PSDP to be executed by National Highway Authority (NHA), or it may be funded by provincial government as a special project, to be executed through a project director/chief engineer appointed for the purpose. The CM approved the proposal and has asked the Planning and Development Department to expedite the process.
A sum of Rs 50 million has been allocated in the 2007-08 provincial budget for the project. An official of Planning and Development Department told Business Recorder that the project would take around four years to be completed. He said that in the initial stage, the allocation was low and process was slower, but in middle and final stages the allocation would be higher and work would be speedier.
He said that in the provincial budget 2007-08, highest priority had been accorded to transport and communication sector, for which 19.55 percent of total ADP ie Rs 7660 million had been set aside.
Works and Services Department Sindh through a consultant had done the feasibility study of the project from Ghaggar Phatak to Ali Bandar. Pak Army had also cleared the proposed alignment. On the request of Sindh Government, the NHA had included it in Federal PSDP under NHA sector during 2003-04-05.
However, it was not reflected in MTDF 2005-10, giving rise to presumption that the planners in Islamabad had relegated this vital scheme to the backyard of development portfolio.
The department also approached donor agencies including ADB and JBIC for taking up this scheme but no commitment was made by them. Keeping in view the importance of this scheme, the CM perforce announced that Coastal Highway would be constructed by provincial government through provincial funds.
As it is an uphill task, because if the subject project costing more than Rs 3 billion was included in provincial ADP, it would be difficult to finance through regular T&C sector without critically damaging the on-going schemes portfolios.
Therefore, Works and Services Department proposed that the provincial government may fund the scheme as a special project to be executed through a project director/chief engineer appointed for the purpose, which the Chief Minister Sindh approved and allocations were made in the provincial budget.