Govt allocates Rs74b for ‘deadly’ RCD Highway of Balochistan
According to the data of an NGO - Balochistan Youth and Civil Society, 106 people died in 995 traffic accidents during 2021.
Govt allocates Rs74b for ‘deadly’ national highway route of Balochistan
The federal government has allocated Rs74 billion of funds for the expansion of one of the deadliest routes of Balochistan’s national highway also known as the RCD Highway connecting Karachi, Khuzdar, Quetta and Chaman after the loss of hundreds of precious lives and a huge number of road accidents.
After the allocation of funds, the single-lane national highway route – N-25 or RCD Highway will be expanded into two lanes.
This 796-km-long project will be completed in six months at a cost of Rs74.71 billion. The longest and busiest highway in Balochistan province, also known as RCD Shahrah, Karachi Khuzdar Quetta Chaman Single Road, will be expanded into a two-lane.
Karachi-Khuzdar-Quetta-Chaman N-25 highway is an important and historical route for trade to Afghanistan.
According to the data of the non-governmental organization Balochistan Youth and Civil Society, 106 people died in 995 traffic accidents during 2021, while only 465 accidents took place on the highway from Khuzdar to Karachi, in which 37 people died and 665 were injured.
This highway starts from the city of Chaman in Balochistan bordering Afghanistan and goes through the districts of Pashin, Quetta, Mastung, Kalat, Khuzdar and Lasbela to Karachi. At Mastung, it joins the road to Iran. Is. N25 highway is considered to be the busiest highway in Balochistan.
Thousands of passenger and freight vehicles move on this highway every day and every year, but it is a single road, due to which, where the speed has to be kept low, fatal accidents are also increasing on this highway.
The business community and citizens have been demanding for the construction of the dangerous route for many years. In the PSDP of 2021-2022, N-25 highway has been included in the dual carriageway project. According to NHA, after the completion of the tender stages, the road construction will start in two parts in the first section.
The ECNEC approved Karachi-Wadh-Khuzdar road project in a meeting chaired by the finance minister. The project will be completed in two phases over a period of 36 months. Under the first phase, Karachi to Khuzdar road will be expanded into two lanes.
Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Abdul Qudus Bizenjo said that work on a section of the 796-km-long main highway between Karachi, Khuzdar, Quetta and Chaman will begin this month. The tender for the second section of two-lane highway has also been completed.
He said that the long-standing demand of the people will be fulfilled by the construction of the highway, while the traffic accidents will decrease.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif laid the foundation stone for the construction of Khuzdar Kuchlak, a section of the N-25 known as the ‘Deadly Highway’, during his visit to Quetta in April, shortly after assuming office, and announced that it would be completed within 1.5 years.