Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah said that his government has decided to construct another bridge on River Indus to connect Ghotki with Kandhkot which would facilitate the area to carry the traffic of Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan apart from facilitating the people of two districts.
The chief minister stated this while talking to a six-member Chinese delegation of Ranken Railway Construction Group who called on him at the CM House on Thursday. The delegation was led by Tang Jikai and other members were Li Yang, Yao Lang, Yao Lan, Wang Jue, Wang Lei and Wang Changqi. The chief minister was assisted by Finance Secretary Sohail Rajut and Chief Minister’s Adviser on Inspection and Inquiries Haji Muzafar Shajra.
The Chinese delegation said that they have an expertise in bullet train, circular railways and construction of roads and bridges. They said that they have studied the requirement and riding priorities of different corridors.
The chief minister said that his government has constructed two bridges on River Indus, one at Thatta-Sujawal and other one at Jhirk-Mullah Katiyar which is near completion.
“We have planned another bridge on River Indus at Kandhkot-Ghotki. It would be 1.5 kilometres long and would ease traffic flow of Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan and also reduce a long distance of over 75 kilometres between Ghotki and Kandhkot,” he said.
He added that this bridge would be launched under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode because it would have an immense commercial transport. “I would like to invite you to participate in its bids to be held in the third week of July,” he said.
The Sindh chief minister also said that Karachi needs a well-planned and state of the art circular railways to provide efficient, effective and fast transport facilities without creating any sort of pollution.
The delegation showed their interest in circular railways and Kandhkot-Ghotki Bridge on River Indus and they fixed their meeting with the finance secretary who also heads the PPP unit to discuss working partnership.
Shah said that his government is also working on environmental issues. Keeping in view the climatic changes, the government would launch special tree plantation and vegetation on mountains campaigns and would also work to introduce such trees which could be grown in the deserted areas of Thar, Kohistan and Kachho area.
He said, “The Sindh government would need help from China and others countries to work on environment.”
