ISLAMABAD   -   The National Highway Authority (NHA) on Thursday informed a parliamentary body that the physical work on Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway would start in June 2022.    

The National Assembly Standing Committee on Communications and Postal Services met here at the auditorium of Postal Staff College in Islamabad under the chair of MNA Ibadullah Khan.  

Briefing the committee members, Naveed Iqbal Walha, member Public Private Partnership Projects NHA, said that work on the Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway would be started in June 2022.  

He said the final tender document is submitted with the Public Private Partnership Authority for its node. 

It is expected that in mid of this month the advertisement would be flouted to seek bids, if cleared by P3A. 

He said that bids would be submitted by interested contractors till mid of September while NHA would complete the evaluation process within one month after which the award of concession to the contractor would be made before the end of November.  

Naveed Iqbal Walha said that successful contractor would take about six months for financial arrangements and most likely the physical work on ground would be commenced in June next year.   

It is pertinent to mention here that motorways from Peshawar to Sukkur and Karachi to Hyderabad have already been completed and opened for traffic but the said link is missing. 

Meanwhile, NHA General Manager Planning Ikram-us-Saqlain Hyder informed the committee that in their directions in the last meeting, NHA has assessed the possibility to provide a new interchange on Islamabad-Peshawar Motorway at the area of Chota Lahore.  

He however said that if the committee would recommend then they would engage a consultant to carry out a feasibility study under policy parameters in this regard. The committee unanimously recommended to build the interchange as the area have huge requirement of interchange to smoothly transport marble and granite.    

An amendment into National Highways Safety Ordinance 2000 was also approved by the committee.  

The meeting was attended by MNAs Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali, Saleh Muhammad, Engr. Usman Tarakai, Imran Khattak, Syed Abrar Shah, Secretary Communications Zafer Hassan, Chairman NHA Khurram Agha, Inspector General of NHMP Dr. Kaleem Imam and other high-level officers of NHA and the ministry of communications.