Peshawar: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government approved the provincialisation of six roads, and further agreed to release funds worth PKR 6.27 billion for the construction and maintenance of highways in the province, a news source reported.
The approvals were confirmed during a meeting of the KP Highways Council held at the Chief Minister (CM) House on Sunday.
The meeting approved the provincialisation of the following roads:
20-kilometre (km) Baryam-Gat Road
5-km Fatehpur-Miadam Road
17-km Khadagzai Bridge-Chakdara Road
55-km Mardan-Katlang-Buner Road
10-km Rahatkot-Sakhra Road
29-km Oghi-Battagram Road
During the meeting, the officials concerned decided to change the name of Chappar Road to Shahrah-e-Tanawal Road. Similarly, the eastern, western, and northern bypasses of the provincial highway will become the Mardan Ring Road.
The members of the meeting also approved a budget of PKR 4.69 billion for the KP Highway Authority (KPHA), and funds worth PKR 2.033 billion for proposed maintenance plans of roads, for the 2019-20 period.
KP CM Mahmood Khan chaired the meeting. He directed the authorities concerned to complete all the proposed projects in a timely and proficient manner. He added that once completed, they would offer better transportation facilities to the public, restore industries, and boost tourism.
Furthermore, the meeting gave its approval for the procurement of snow-clearing machinery for the Barrian-Nathiagali-Abbottabad and Manglawar-Malam Jabba roads. Officials concerned estimated an average income of PKR 8.025 million from this machinery.
To prevent delays in the procurement process, the meeting decided that KPHA would begin to float tenders for this equipment before the expected September snowfall leads to landslides. The authority currently requires the approval of the council – which holds its meeting usually after September – to begin this process. The CM noted that the job of clearing snow should not be subject to delays on account of council meetings.
The meeting also approved a toll tax on four different provincial highways. This will help in generating revenues worth PKR 29 million. The CM directed that the tax should be imposed on commercial vehicles only.
