Work on all portions of CPEC Western Route underway

ISLAMABAD: The construction as well as land acquisition work on all portions of the Western Route of China Pakistan Economic Corridor is under way and it is expected that major work on the route would be completed by the next year.

The shortest of all CPEC routes is Western Alignment of the CPEC which is 2,463 km in length and starts from Khunjrab, passing through Burhan (Hakla), D I Khan (Yarik), Zhob, Quetta, Surab and Hoshab and terminates at Gwadar.

An official of Planning Commission Friday told APP that the Western Routes' 615 km Khunjrab-Raikot section had already been completed while Havelian-Abbottabad-Manshehra (40 km) Section would be completed by May, 2018.

He said work on construction of all five sections of Hakla-D I Khan Expressway had begun.

This project was an important part of Western Route of CPEC and the 285 km-long Motorway would be completed in two years at a cost of more than Rs142 billion.

He said the project alignment starts at Hakla, near Tarnol interchange on M-1 and passes through Fateh Jhang, Mianwali, Kundal and ends at Yarak at Indus Highway (N-55).

He said the alignment of motorway passes through developing areas and its construction would generate new employment opportunities.

Availability of high-speed transportation would pave the way for improvement of health and education sectors as well, and local produces would easily be taken to the big markets.

He said ground breaking of the up-gradation of Zhob-Mughalkot Section was performed by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in December 2015.

He said rehabilitation of D I Khan-Mughalkot Section of N-50 would be completed by 2018. Moreover he said dualization of 531 km D I Khan to Kuchlak Section of N-50 would be operational by 2020.

The objective of the CPEC was to promote trade ties with neighboring countries Central Asian States and South Asian countries, which would ultimately make Pakistan a trade hub in this whole region, he said.

Similarly, the Sorab-Hoshab Highway formed an important link on the western route of CPEC and had been completed at an estimated cost of Rs22 billion.

The highway is 449 kilometers long and links the Gwadar port to the north.

The official said with the completion of the highway, the distance time from Gwadar to Quetta had been reduced from 48 hours to only 10 hours.