KARACHI: Sindh government will encourage the provincial department to prepare, construct and finalise road schemes under approved policy of ‘master plan’ with standards and quality. The plan has been envisaged to attract intending investors to come ahead and participate in development works with prompt investment, said Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Syed Qaim Ali Shah while presiding over a high-level meeting regarding provision and construction of roads in Sindh province at his office here on Thursday.
He said roads play important role in communication system, development process and promotion of economic activities of the nation, while the present government had worked and chalked out a plan to not only improve the existing road network of the province but also provide big roads under Sindh Road network master plan. Shah said the provincial government, after heavy rains, had initiated construction work of damaged roads, so as to provide basic infrastructure facility to common men.
In his detailed presentation on development of regional hubs and highways connectivity, former adviser to Sindh chief minister Kaiser Bengali said, “We need to create a system of cities around growth node, as it is not possible to create another mega city, keeping in view the structure and nature of the economy of Sindh.”
To identify three growth nodes (regional hubs), which are northern Sindh (Sukkur), central Sindh (Nawabshah and Dadu) and southern Sindh (Hyderabad), he identified. Cities and towns surrounding these growth nodes (radius of 75-kilometres) are treated as part of the regional hubs, he added. Bengali further informed that high-speed road connectivity between these cities and towns and between the regional hubs is the key to development. He elaborated that the traffic on many of the roads was not heavy due to poor condition of the roads, which had failed to provide necessary connectivity between different parts of the province, particularly with Karachi.
Bengali said the carriageway was the reflection of high vision, which was shown by Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who has the courage to break out the conventional meld and create a new path for the country, as such under this vision; it is needed to take Sindh out of the 19th Century into the 21st Century. Sindh Finance Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Chief Secretary Raja Muhammad Abbas, Additional Chief Secretary (P&D) Israr Malik, Secretary Works & Services Arif Khan and Secretary Finance Sindh Kamran Naveed Baloch expressed their views and supported the proposed master plan.
Shah accepted the concept and decided to form a 9-member board to develop the concept with concrete proposals within two to three weeks. The board will comprise of Sindh finance minister, Kaiser Bengali, additional chief secretary (P&D), secretary works & services, secretary finance and others. He directed to finalise priorities for the plan, and said that Hyderabad–Mirpurkhas carriageway would be completed up to April 2012. Shah informed that N-5 Project pertaining to road from Karachi to Hyderabad via Thatta National Highway had been approved by the federal government. He directed the officers that there was need of improvement.
