By Uzma Zafar
ISLAMABAD: The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) here on Monday approved Punjab Arterial Roads Improvement Programme (PARIP) worth of Rs. 129,944.15 million (US$ 773.20) programme to improve road infrastructure in the province.
The project, sponsored by the government of Punjab, envisages construction of 535 kilometers of dual carriageway highway sections between various cities in the province.
The executive committee, the meeting of which was chaired by Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin, also approved Punjab Rural Sustainable Water Supply and Sanitation Project (PRSWSSP) amounting to Rs. 96,202 million (USD 553.0).
The project would be executed by Punjab Rural Municipal Services Company in 16 Tehsils of Punjab with directions to reduce its implementation time and carry out it initially as pilot project in some Tehsils and submit its report to the ECNEC for further consideration.
The project has been designed to provide basic civic amenities such as water supply, sanitation and solid waste management in the rural areas of selected Tehsils of Punjab.
The executive committee also approved Greater Karachi Bulk Water Supply Scheme K-IV, 260 MGD Phase –I at a revised cost of 126,404.751 million.
Initially, the project was approved with original capacity of 260 MGD in 2014 to be executed by Karachi Water and Sewerage Board, Government of Sindh.
Later the project was revised and included in Karachi Transportation Plan (KTP) with the same 260 MGD capacity but change of sponsoring and executing agencies from government of Sindh to Ministry of Water resources and WAPDA in 2021.
The project aims to meet growing water demand of Karachi and provide dependable and sustainable water transmission system from its more than 100 KMs away source of Keenjhar Lake to feed Karachi water supply and distribution network.
ECNEC also approved Kharian-Rawalpindi Motorway project to be executed on BOT basis under Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode at a total cost of 95,810.260 million Rupees.
The project envisages construction of 04 lane access-controlled 117.20 km in length motorway from Kharian to Rawalpindi.
Among others the meeting was attended by Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, Asad Umer, Federal Minister for Industries and Production, Makhdoom Khusroo Bakhtiar, Adviser to the PM on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood, Punjab Finance Minister Makhdoom Hashim Jawan Bakht, Deputy Chairman Planning Commission, Federal Secretaries and other senior officers from Federal as well as provincial governments participated in the meeting.
