ISLAMABAD - After the Saudi government’s pledge of 100 million Riyals to fund the Muzaffarabad-Mansehra Expressway, the National Highway Authority has started its preparations on war footings and solicited the approval for a revised PC-I of said project from its executive board.
To avoid any further delay, a summary in this regard was moved through circulation amongst board members and their approval for the revised PC-I amounting Rs.58.8 billion has been taken on an emergent basis.
Earlier, it was informed by reliable sources that the government of Saudi Arabia had shown interest to fund two road projects in Pakistan including two tunnels on purpose Muzaffarabad-Mansehra Expressway and Phase-II of the dualization of N-25 (Karachi- Quetta).
As per the revised PC-I, the expressway would be completed with Saudi funding in two phases. In the first phase, a 3.12km portion of proposed road including 1km long tunnel would be constructed with the promised 100 million Riyals (Around Rs.7 billion) under the Saudi Fund for Development while rest of the 23.1km long portion including 3.4km long road portion would be completed in second phase through negotiated loan.
The work on the first phase would be started from July 2024 while the second phase would be commenced from July 2025. The deadline to complete is June 2027 if the project is started successfully as per plan.
After getting clearance from the CDA board, the project is sent to the Planning Commission to get approval from the ECNIC, which is expected to be given on fast pace as well.
The 26.3 km long Mansehra-Muzaffarabad Expressway will be an important link of the envisioned Economic Corridor of the country. The project will provide a 4-lane divided Expressway connecting Muzaffarabad with Manshera passing through Dhani, Dhoondha, Masahan, Thurman and Jab Villages and terminates on M-15 CPEC Route.
The said expressway comprises 11 bridges and 2 tunnels on the left bank of river Jhelum and Kunhar. As per the traffic data, about 7000 vehicles pass through the existing route on a daily basis and the figure would be doubled in the next fifteen years.
The project got attention in the sideline meetings of the Saudi delegation led by the Kingdom’s Foreign Minister, which concluded a visit to Pakistan a few weeks ago.
Prince Faisal had visited Pakistan aimed at enhancing bilateral economic cooperation and pushing forward previously agreed investment deals. His trip came a little over a week after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Makkah and reaffirmed the Kingdom’s commitment to expedite investments worth $5 billion.
