Daily Times

The Balochistan Awami Party-led government has constructed 3732 km roads during its tenure to provide better communication facilities to the masses of the province.

The provincial government has decided to construct 2500 km more roads in Balochistan during the remaining tenure of the current government aimed to further improve the communication system in the province. The government has initiated 550 new projects of construction of roads for which around Rs 20 billion has been earmarked in the budgetary allocation of year 2021-22, said an official of Balochistan government. The construction work on the dualization of 796 km long Chaman-Quetta-Karachi-Highway would be initiated from next month aimed to provide best communication facilities and control traffic accidents on the highway.

He said due to the efforts of Balochistan government, in the financial year 2021-22, the federal government has allocated Rs 81.582 billion in the first phase for the construction of Kuchlak to Khuzdar section of Quetta-Karachi highway. He said that expansion and reconstruction of Ziarat Road would increase tourism activities in the area. “In Zhob Division, the areas adjacent to the Afghan border and in Makran Division, the areas adjacent to the Iranian border will be connected to national highways, which will boost trade and economic activities,” he added. The official said that the construction of highways would give the province’s agricultural and mineral production access to major markets.

The construction of new and extension of existing highways would not only pave the way for socio-economic uplift of far flung areas of Balochistan, but also have positive impacts on the economy of entire region, he added.