KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah has said that his government has decided to construct another bridge on River Indus to connect Ghotki with Kandhkot and to seek cooperation from China in various infrastructure development projects.
This would be a revolution in the area to carry traffic of Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan apart from facilitating the people of Ghotki and Kandkot districts. The chief minister said this while talking to a six-member Chinese delegation of Ranken Railway Construction Group Co. Ltd who called on him at CM House here on Thursday, a statement said.
The delegation was led by Tang Jikai and comprised of Li Yang, Yao Lang, Yao Lan, Wang Jue, Wang Lei and Wang Changqi. The chief minister was assisted by Finance Secretary Sohail Rajut and adviser to chief minister on Inspection and Inquiries Haji Muzafar Shujrah. The Chinese delegation said that they have expertise in bullet trains, circular railways and construction of roads and bridges. They also said that they have studied the requirements and ridership priorities of different corridors.
CM Qaim Ali said that his government had constructed two bridges on River Indus, one at Thatta-Sujawal and other one at Jhirk- Mula Katiar which is near completion. “We have planned another bridge on River Indus at Kandhkot-Ghotki, which would be 1.5 kilometer long and would ease traffic flow of Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan and also reduce long distance of over 75 kilometers between Ghotki and Kandhkot,” he said.
The chief minister added that this bridge would be launched under Public Private Partnership mode because it would have immense commercial transport. “I would like to invite you to participate in its bids to be invited in the third week of July,” he said. He also said that Karachi’s genuine need is a well-planned and state of the art circular railway to provide efficient, effective and fast transport facilities without creating any sort of pollution.
The delegation showed their interest in circular railways and Kandhkot-Ghotki bridge on River Indus and they fixed their meeting with the finance secretary who also heads Public Private Partnership Unit, to discuss working partnership. CM Qaim also said that the Sindh government was also working on environmental issues.
He said that keeping in view the climatic changes, the government would launch special tree plantation, vegetation on mountains and would also work to introduce such trees which could be grown in desert area of Thar, Kohistan and Kachho area. Sindh government would need help from China and others countries working on environment, he added.
