CPEC: Hakla-Dera Ismail Khan Motorway completed with Rs 81 billion

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Islamabad: Federal Minister for Communications and Postal Services Murad Saeed has announced that China-Pakistan Economic corridor (CPEC)’s Hakla-Dera Ismail Khan Motorway had been completed with an amount of Pakistani Rs 81 billion.

In a tweet, he said that Hakla-Dera Ismail Khan Motorway’s foundation stone was laid by the previous government and the job had now been completed.

The minister remarked that the incumbent government resumed construction work on Hakla-Dera Ismail Khan Motorway in 2019 after resolving disputes.

He added that that advertisement for Dir Motorway and work on Swat motorway phase-2 will be started this month.

“He said that Kohat-Pindi Ghep section will be completed next month and Gabila in March,” he informed.

The Hakla-Dera Ismail Khan Motorway (M-14), a key section of the western alignment of CPEC.

The M-14 motorway is the starting section of the western corridor of CPEC. It connects South Khyber Pakhtunkhaw, South Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan provinces with the M-1 motorway, intersecting the eastern alignment of CPEC at Hakla near Islamabad.

The provincial governments of KP and Balochistan are presently purchasing land for the next section of M-14, from Dera Ismail Khan to Zhob district of Balochistan. However, the federal government has already initiated work on modifying the existing two-lane highway from Dera Ismail Khan to Quetta, capital of Balochistan, into a four-lane expressway.

This will drastically reduce the distance and travel time between northern and southern parts of the country. The corridor will finally lead to Karachi and Gwadar, thus providing for the shortest route of CPEC.

The M-14 motorway has been the most awaited CPEC section in Islamabad, as the expat workers to benefit from this motorway form the largest community in the federal capital. It is very exhausting to travel to Islamabad from southern parts of the country on existing roads.