ISLAMABAD – Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday (today) inaugurated the Hakla-Dera Ismail Khan Motorway in the country’s federal capital Islamabad.
According to the report of Pakistan’s premier news agency, the 293 kilometers long Hakla-D.I. Khan Motorway is a key part of the western route of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The areas of Dera Ismail Khan, North Punjab, South Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan will emerge as a business hub as a result of the motorway which will also facilitate transportation of agriculture products to big markets.
Around 11 interchanges, 36 bridges, 33 flyovers, and one hundred and nineteen underpasses have been constructed on the motorway, per the report.
PM Imran while addressing the inauguration ceremony said the project aimed to benefit the less developed areas of Pakistan.
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‘Motorway will bring prosperity to the backward areas that were forgotten by the previous governments”, he said while lamenting that one of the issues plaguing Pakistan is that a chunk of the population gets richer while the rest struggle with poverty.
A country where some areas are left behind in terms of development cannot progress, Khan said while stressing that long-term planning is vital for a country’s progress.
PM pointed that the western route of CPEC will benefit the backward areas. He also mentioned that the roads being built in 2021 cost far less than those built-in 2013 despite the rising levels of inflation, which means someone was receiving kickbacks in the past.
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The National Highway Authority’s (NHA) revenue doubled after corruption was eliminated and it’s land worth over Rs5 billion was retrieved from land grabbers, he said.
