Work on Dir Chitral road to start in March 2021: Murad

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Communications Murad Saeed Thursday said the Executive Board of National Highway Authority had approved the maintenance and widening of the Dir Chitral Road and work on it would start in March, 2021.

Speaking in the Senate, he said joint cooperation committee (JCC) on China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in the past never made Dir Chitral Road part of the western route of CPEC.

He said he had asked for a feasibility for construction of Dir Chitral motorway and for making it part of the CPEC.

The matter would be taken up with China in the next JCC of the CPEC, he told.

He said PML-N government did not include the construction of Dir Chitral road in the public sector development programme in its last year.

During proceedings of the house, Deputy Chairman Saleem Mandviwala referred the issue of increasing use of narcotics among youth to the relevant standing committee.

The matter was raised by Senator Rubina Khalid.

The matter related to insufficient facilities in Radio Pakistan in Gwadar and lack of media freedom in Balochistan was also sent to the committee.

Senator Abdul Qayyum said the road from Naran to Lake Saiful Maluk should be built. While Senator Salahuddin Tirmzi demanded payment of compensation to the owners of the land in his area, which was acquired for construction of a road.