ISLAMABAD: National Highway Authority (NHA) has allocated Rs 23 billion for maintenance of roads this year.
It was announced in a stakeholders consultation meeting on Annual Maintenance Plan 2015-206 held in Karachi with NHA South Zone Member Imran Yousafzai in the chair.
NHA’s regional general managers from Sindh and Balochistan gave presentations on maintenance work in their respective regions. Representatives of the Truck Owners Association, Filling Stations Association and NHA’s contractor also participated in the meeting.
In his address, Imran Yousafzai said that the main objectives of NHA is to develop high-speed north-south economic corridor, provide linkages with Gawadar port and enhance regional connectivity. He said, current network of NHA is 12,131 km and current length of motorways is 690km, which will be increased to 2,000 km in next three years, adding that work on Sukkur-Multan Motorway (387 km) will start this month. He said the most heavily burdened road is N-5 (GT Road) and there is a need to provide a safe and reliable alternative to N-5. The construction of motorway network is part of this effort, he added.
Meanwhile, NHA Sindh-South General Manager Samiur Rehman informed the meeting that work on Karachi-Hyderabad Motorway is in progress. He said the revised PC-1 for Lyari Expressway has been approved by the government and the work has been restarted on Lyari Expressway, which will be completed by next year. He said Karachi Northern Bypass is being widened at ICI chowk, while Indus Highway from Sehwa to Retodero has been dualised. Hyderabad to Moro section of N-5 has also been improved, he told the meeting.
The meeting was informed that overloading is badly damaging the roads and NHA does not get any funds for road maintenance. It meets the expenditure from its revenue collection and there is a need for greater awareness among heavy vehicle users to follow the permissible load limits
NHA GM Ikramus Saqlain Haider said that primary objective of such gatherings is to get valuable feedback from other stakeholders to further improve the highway safety mechanism. In order to improve highway safety, NHA has planned to establish emergency response centres on every 50 km along the national highways. The representatives of various transport groups in their remarks appreciated the effort of NHA. They said that such meetings are important in sharing the views and suggestions for further improvement of road safety. They also proposed that rate of toll tax may be lowered as an incentive for avoiding axle-load violations. They also stressed upon the need to train drivers.
