PESHAWAR: KP Govt. has evolved a multifaceted plan worth Rs. 8.6 billion for rehabilitation of provincial roads.
This will strengthen connectivity between remote and inaccessible scenic areas and rest of the province vital for promotion of tourism in the country and enable tourists reach the spots of their preference comfortably.
KP Govt. officials told the Media here today that these projects would be completed with financial assistance of ADB. Construction will be caried out through Khyber Pakthunkhwa Highway Authority.
Government would spend Rs3.4 billion for dualization of Mardan-Swabi Road that would benefit hundreds of thousands of people, saying this mega project would be completed with assistance of Asian Development Bank.
Dualization of Mardan-Swabi road would help reduce distance between the two cities besides minimize chances of roads mishaps and bolstering of eco-tourism in the area.
As many as Rs10.4 billion would be spent on construction of new roads in settled areas of Khyber Pakthunkhwa with special focus on linking all inaccessible areas with rest of the country.
He said expressways play a pivotal role in economic and tourism development besides provide an easy access to isolated and less visited destinations of tourism, heritage and archaeological sites to generate substantial revenue.
Like most of the developing countries, he said tourism industry is under-performing since long in Pakistan despite its enormous potential primarily due to poor transportation system and lack of roads to interlink tourists’ destinations through enhanced motorways’ network.
He said PTI led Government had taken a principled decision to construct state-of-the-art 81 kilometers long Swat Expressway to explore the hidden treasures of Swat, Chitral, Dir Upper, Dir Lower, Kohistan, Shangla, Buner, Mohmand and Bajaur districts before the world.
The linking roads in nearby tourists’ areas would be connected with Swat Expressway that was recently opened by PTI Government for people of seven northern districts of KP.
The four-lane 120 kilometers high speed fenced Swat expressway is passing through 21 bridges and 1300 meters twin tunnels on National Highway N-45 by providing an extra and fast track communication facilities to thousands of travelers visiting Swat, Dir Lower, Dir Upper, Bajaur, Shangla, Malakand and Chitral.
He said construction work on service areas near Katlang Mardan of Swat expressway have been expedited and would be completed within stipulated time.
The official said Swat expressway is presently four lanes and later would be converted into a six- lane motorway and to be extended up to Mingora Swat. Government would link all under construction and constructed big, small and medium hydropower projects through enhanced communication network.
Under public private mode, Spat-Gah power plant would be constructed in Kohistan, adding 310MW hydel power project at Balakot Manshera and 188MW Naran power hydropower project besides 57MW Maidan hydropower projects to quickly shift power to national grid.
Mega power projects of 70MW would be constructed at Dir Lower, Shangla, Mansehra and construction work would start this year besides allocation of Rs200 million for transmission of gas and electricity to facilitate people.
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