The Sindh province has allocated Rs 5 billion for roads sector in the budget for the year 2016-17.
Senior Minister for Finance Murad Ali Shah presenting the budget for the year 2016-17 in the Sindh Assembly on Saturday said the budgetary allocation for maintenance and repair of roads was Rs 3.7 billion which was enhanced to Rs 4.5 billion in CFY.
This will bring significant improvement in roads as it included improvement of over 2,300 kilometers, besides construction of over 2,600 kilometers of new roads. Looking at this trend, the allocation for the next fiscal year has been enhanced to Rs 5 billion.
The proposed allocation in the ADP under road sectorfor the coming financial year 2016-17 is Rs 22.4 billion against Rs 15.4 billion in 2015-16, which is a significant increase of 45 per cent. Various projects are being executed with the assistance of foreign donor agencies. A total of 528.5 km of rural access roads have been constructed with the assistance of Japanese government at a total cost of Rs 8.87 billion.
These roads cover the entire province including the districts of Thatta, Dadu, Jamshoro, Hyderabad, Larkana, Kamber-Shahdadkot, Shikarpur, Khairpur, Jacobabad, Kashmore Kandhkot and Sukkur. With the assistance of Chinese government, the works and services department has initiated the rehabilitation/reconstruction of Nawabshah-Sanghar road having length of 61 km which will be completed in a period of two years at a cost of Rs 2.09 billion.
The works and services department has also secured a loan of US $197.8 million from the Asian Development Bank for repair of six inter-city roads of Sindh having length of 328 km, conforming to international standards.
Jhirk Mullah Katiar Bridge project involves construction of 1.7 km and 17.2 km two-lane approaches connecting National Highway (N-5) with Mirpur Bathoro-Tando Muhammad Khan road. This is an ongoing project and it would cost Rs 4.537 billion and it will be operational during the financial year 2016-17.
The upcoming project of 49 km length Karachi-Thatta Dual Carriageway with an estimated cost of Rs 9.9 billion is one such avenue which is at take off stage and the concession agreement signing ceremony was held on 7th of May, 2015, by the works and services department and the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO). The ground-breaking of the project has already been held in first week of June 2016.
Hyderabad-Tando Muhammad Khan Road (51.2 km) is yet another project envisioned under the public-private partnership at an estimated cost of Rs 5 billion. The spadework for the project is complete and investor solicitation will commence very soon. Another ambitious project of connecting Ghotki with Kandhkot through a bridge on River Indus estimated at a cost of Rs 10 billion is also going to be undertaken as a public-private partnership venture. A detailed feasibility study for the bridge is being initiated. This landmark project will immensely benefit the commuters and cargo movement between the provinces of Balochistan, Sindh and Punjab.