By Khalid Aziz

 

ISLAMABAD, Aug. 30 (Gwadar Pro) - Sukkur-Multan Motorway (M-5) and Hazara Motorway (M-15) of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) have survived the worst floods in history of Pakistan.

 

This was stated by Asim Amin, Member Planning National Highway Authority (NHA), in response to a question during a live session on Tuesday. Asim said that the traffic did not stop on M-5 for a single minute during the flash floods that devastated a vast stretch of the country during Monsoon rains. M-5 traverses through one of the worst-hit areas.

 

Similarly, M-15 also remained safe and did not encounter any flood-related blockage except overflow witnessed at a drain or two, the NHA official said.

 

M-5, a 392-kilometre-long, six-lane controlled-access motorway was built by China State Construction Engineering Corp. (CSCEC) at a cost of $3 billion. 90% cost of the project was financed by Chinese banks through concessional loans.

 

China financed the Havelian-Shinkiari and Shinkiari-Thakot sections of M-15 under CPEC and has also pledged to support construction of the Thakot-Raikot section of the road.

 

In response to another question, the NHA official said that Techno-CMC-ACC, a consortium of two local and one Italian firms, which have won bid for construction of Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway (M-6), will soon achieve financial closure. 'We have received approval from Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) for the project and only await some information regarding CMC from the Italian government', the official said. “We can sign the agreement with the consortium in a few days after which the project will enter the design phase and actual work could be started during the current year,” the official said. M-6 will complete the Peshawar-Islamabad-Lahore-Karachi motorway link, which will not only ease traffic but also minimise traffic accidents, he added.