Officials from Pakistan’sMinistry of Communications confirmed that 79% work on motorways and 68% on highways have been completed so far on eastern and western routes of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Both the western and eastern alignments will connect Khunjerab Pass to Gwadar. The common alignment for all the three eastern, western and central routes including 790 km road from Khunjerab to Burhan and 193 km road from Hoshab to Gwadar has been completed already.
Burhan will be at the intersection of the Eastern and Western Alignment. According to the officials, the distance of the Eastern route starting from Islamabad to Karachi is 1,419 km, out of which 79% work on motorways hasbeen completed whereas 21% is left which is 306 km Sukkur Hyderabad motorway.
This is the only patch left in the eastern route of CPEC. Sukkur Hyderabad motorway is expected to be complete in the next 30 months. The company which won the tender has already been allowed to start its construction.
On the other hand, the western route of CPEC starts from Islamabad to D. I khan,then D. I khan to Quetta,and from Quetta to Gwadar. Excluding the common alignment, the total length of this route is 1,714 km. Out of which 68% has been completed while 32% is under construction.
The Islamabad to D I khan motorway has been completed recently. The very important link of the western route of CPEC is D.I khan to Zoub and Quetta which is 540 km patch. This patch is under construction which isexpected to be completed by 2024.
After the completion of this patch of motorway the western alignment will be completed also. The rest of the western alignment patches including Quetta to Surab,which is 235 km,and from Surab to Hoshab,which is 449 km,is also operational.
With the start of CPEC, three routeswere identified for cargo transport. The eastern alignment passes through the heavily populated provinces of Sindh and Punjab where most industries are located.
The western alignment passes through the less developed and more sparsely populated provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan, and the future central alignment will pass through Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, and Balochistan.
The sources confirmed that the two alignments i.e. eastern and western are expected to be completed by 2025 and the third central alignment will be finished by 2030.
