Karachi-Lahore Motorway Project Goes Into Cold Storage

[Salman]

Karachi-Lahore Motorway Project Goes Into Cold Storage

Karachi: Bureaucratic manipulation has put the commencement of the multi-billion rupee Karachi-Lahore Motorway project on the back burner.

The Sindh Board of Revenue (BOR)’s Land Utilisation Department had leased out the land reserved for the National Highway Authority (NHA) to the third parties, and the NHA is now facing financial implications because it has to cover the costs of resettlement and compensation in order to cancel the lease.

Around 77% of the land reserved for the Karachi-Lahore Motorway has been handed over to the NHA so far and according to a copy of the working paper of the project, which was prepared for a meeting of the NHA with the Sindh chief secretary in June 2014, the authority has sought the handover of the remaining 1,600 acres of land for the construction of the motorway, which has not happened yet despite clear directions from the chief secretary