Engineering Post Report
The transport sector in general and road infrastructure, in particular, have a profound and enduring effect on the economic growth of Pakistan.
National Highway Authority (NHA) is playing a vital role in improving the productivity and competitiveness of businesses , and the quality of travel with emphasis on safety, apart from creating job opportunities.
Pakistan is virtually bisected into two halves by mighty River Indus. The Eastern segment is historically well-developed .For better East-West connectivity , numerous bridges have been constructed across River Indus, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej.
Currently there are three North-South corridors (N5,N55 and Motorway M 1,M 2, M4, M 5 and M 9 whereas M 6 is being planned on Build-Operate-Transfer (BoT) with only N55 on the western side of River Indus. A newly planned Western corridor is being executed which is at different stages of implementation.
The present NHA network comprises of 39 national highways, motorways, expressways and strategic roads. The existing portfolio of NHA consists of 32 ongoing projects involving total estimated cost of Rs1275569.490 million with foreign aid of Rs 391881.000 million. Against it, Rs 951955.618 million have been expended till June 2020 . An allocation of Rs 88954.855 million including foreign aid of Rs 10750.000 has been allocated under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) of the Federal Government for financial year 2020-21.