Asad Umar directs to complete land acquisition for Sukkur-Hyderabad motorway

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar on Friday directed authorities to complete land acquisition for Sukkur-Hyderabad motorway on a priority basis, so as to start construction of the project in the third quarter of the current fiscal year.

Chairing a review meeting of major development projects in Islamabad, he directed the National Highway Authority to ensure effective coordination with provincial and district administrations for timely resolution of project sites issues.

The meeting was also briefed on the progress of two major roads in Gilgit Baltistan, including “upgradation and widening of Jaglot-Skardu Road” and “Naltar valley road”.

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On November 30, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib had said the government was committed to removing encroachments from state-owned land across the country.

Addressing a news conference along with Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Capital Development Authority (CDA) Affairs Ali Nawaz Awan in Islamabad, the minister of state had said that for the first time, digitalised cadastral mapping was being prepared.

Under the initiative, he had added, 81,000 square kilometres state-owned land in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan had been digitised.

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“Under the first phase of this initiative, massive encroachments on state land worth Rs5,500 billion have been detected across the country. In the light of this digital record, the government will take action against the land mafias and their facilitators,” Habib had said.