Kachhi Canal and N-70 Highway Projects to Boost Pakistan's Balochistan

[Riaz Haq]

East-West infrastructure projects in Pakistan pose unique challenges. Sending hundreds of cusecs of water up more than a mile from the River Indus to Balochistan via Kachhi canal is one of these challenges. Another challenge is to improve and expand national east-west highways like N-70.  These recently completed infrastructure projects linking South Punjab with Balochistan will  boost agriculture and transportation sectors and bring economic benefits to Pakistanis living in the country's least developed areas.

Kachhi Canal Project: 

Recently completed 400 kilometers in phase 1 of 500 kilometer long Kachhi Canal is now the longest irrigation canal in Pakistan.  It stretches from the plains of South Punjab to the heights of eastern Balochistan where it will eventually irrigate over 700,000 acres of arid land, according to WAPDA (Water and Power Development Authority).

Kachhi Canal Pakistan

Part of Kachhi canal is made up of 56 inch diameter pipeline that will pump 120 cusecs (cubic feet per sec) of Indus water 7,000 feet above sea level across Sulaiman mountain range. This feat of engineering made possible by NESPAK (National Engineering Services of Pakistan), a consulting firm that I worked for 3 years in mid-1970s.

Kachhi Canal Project Phases

National Highway N-70: 

National highway N-70 runs from Multan in Punjab to the town of Qilla Saifullah via Dera Ghazi Khan, and Loralai in Balochistan province.  It requires traversing 11,500 feet high Sulaiman mountains, the southern extension of Hindu Kush mountain range. It has recently been completed.

N-70 Highway Pakistan

The condition of old British colonial era N-70 national highway was very poor. In particular, the hilly sections of the road suffered from frequent rock falls and debris and occasional land slides from the steep mountain side. It had narrow road width, coupled with hair-pin bends and relatively steep slope. Trucks pulling containers were forced to take alternative route via N-65 highway to Quetta.  The solution was to use seven steel bridges that were 11.5 kilometers in length. The project was completed at a cost of $142 million with the assistance of JICA, Japan's international aid agency.

Steel Bridges At Fort Monroe on N70 Highway

Summary:

Recently completed infrastructure projects linking South Punjab with Balochistan will  boost agriculture and transportation sectors and the economy in Pakistan's least developed areas. Kachhi canal will irrigate hundreds of thousands of acres of arid land while improvement and widening of N-70 east-west national highway will help movement of goods and people to integrate remote areas with the national economy.

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[Riaz Haq]

Water Released In Much Awaited Gomal Zam Dam Canal

https://www.urdupoint.com/en/pakistan/water-released-in-much-awaite...

Member Provincial Assembly, Faisal Amin lauded the efforts of Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), Frontier Works Organization (FWO) and Chinese and Turkish engineers for releasing water in Gomal Zam Dam canal for the first time on Tuesday
TANK, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 9th Jun, 2020 ) :Member Provincial Assembly, Faisal Amin lauded the efforts of Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), Frontier Works Organization (FWO) and Chinese and Turkish engineers for releasing water in Gomal Zam Dam canal for the first time on Tuesday.

The project, conceived in 1898, took over a century to be built but has changed the whole landscape. "Salute to Chinese, Turkish, FWO PAKISTAN, WAPDA and Pakistani staff who made it possible," he remarked.

He said dam would usher a new era of prosperity and green revolution in district Tank and DI Khan, adding that the dam is located in South Waziristan, Barrage at Girdawi that would help irrigate 200,000 acres of land in Tank and DIKHAN Districts, besides generating 17.

4 MW electricity.

He said most of the work was done before Pakistan Peoples Party government , which he said, stopped all payments.

Faisal Amin said, "thanks to aid from foreign countries and USAID Pakistan that the last remaining works were finished".

[Riaz Haq]

Gomal Zam Dam Makes Two Lac (200,000) Acres Land Cultivable In KP Southern Districts in Pakistan

https://www.urdupoint.com/en/pakistan/gzd-makes-two-lac-acres-land-...

He said 200,000 acres barren land have been made cultivable in DI Khan and others southern districts of KP which means that Rs20 billion could be generated only from agriculture and 18megawatt affordable electricity in one year.

Focus are being made on food processing in agriculture sector to counter challenges related to food security, he said, adding the Government would help encourage food processing in merged areas to explore and take full advantage of its fruits and agriculture wealth.

The PM's special assistant said DI Khan, Mianwali and Bhakkar districts were going to become a hub of agriculture goods including fruits and vegetables to cater needs of every growing population including Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

Agriculture sector had achieved tremendous growth in the country where rice and maize production increased each by over 18pc, cotton by 50 and a record 100MT sugar were produced recently, adding that Rs 12,00 billion value addition were also achieved directly benefiting farmers and agriculture growers.

[Riaz Haq]

#Pakistan #Motorways: 171-Mile 4-Lane M-14 Hakla-Dera Ismail Khan Motorway to open for traffic on Dec 13, 2021. It's part of #CPEC Western Route. https://pakobserver.net/m-14-motorway-to-open-for-traffic-on-dec-13/ via @pakobserver

The Hakla-Dera Ismail Khan Motorway (M-14), a key section of the western alignment of CPEC, will be open to traffic on December 13, said Sajid Hussain, project director of the M-14 motorway, Gwadar Pro reported on Thursday.

A source added that the member motorways of the NHA board had informed the authority’s chairman that the motorway was complete in all respects and could be inaugurated even in early December.

He added that work was underway on construction of service areas. However, the main work has been finished, he said.

The M-14 motorway is the starting section of the western corridor of CPEC. It connects South KP, South Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan provinces with the M-1 motorway, intersecting the eastern alignment of CPEC at Hakla near Islamabad.

The provincial governments of KP and Balochistan are presently purchasing land for the next section of M-14, from Dera Ismail Khan to Zhob district of Balochistan.

However, the federal government has already initiated work on modifying the existing two-lane highway from Dera Ismail Khan to Quetta, capital of Balochistan, into a four-lane expressway.

This will drastically reduce the distance and travel time between northern and southern parts of the country. The corridor will finally lead to Karachi and Gwadar, thus providing for the shortest route of CPEC.

The M-14 motorway has been the most awaited CPEC section in Islamabad, as the expat workers to benefit from this motorway form the largest community in the federal capital. It is very exhausting to travel to Islamabad from southern parts of the country on existing roads.

The M-14 motorway will make our travel and life easy, said Siftain Khan, who hails from Dera Ismail Khan and works as an overseas education consultant in Rawalpindi, the twin city of Islamabad.

[Riaz Haq]

Pakistan’s Thar desert lignite coal boom gathers pace with SECMC mine hitting 10 Mt & SSRL mine starting up

https://im-mining.com/2021/12/31/pakistans-thar-desert-lignite-coal...


On December 17, 2021, Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) announced that it had successfully achieved the 10 Mt of coal production milestone. SECMC, one of the largest public-private partnerships in the energy sector in Pakistan, commenced commercial operations in July 2019 with an annual production capacity of 3.8 Mt. Over the past 2.5 years, SECMC has begun to transform the energy landscape of Pakistan by facilitating production of electricity using indigenous coal reserves. The coal feeds a 660MW coal fired power plant and the overall project is classed as a is classed as a China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) priority implementation project.

SECMC is one of two main lignite coal mining operators in the country, and is located in in Block II of the Tharparkar (Thar) area in Sindh province of Pakistan. It is a joint venture between the Government of Sindh (GoS), Engro Energy Ltd (formerly Engro Powergen Limited) and its partners namely Thal Ltd (House of Habib), Habib Bank Ltd (HBL), Hub Power Company (HUBCO); and China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC). The world class Huolinhe Open Pit Coal Mine in Inner Mongolia, China, a subsidiary of China’s State Power Investment Corporation, has also joined the SECMC board as strategic investor with preference shares’ subscription.

The other main mine in the country which is just going into production is operated by Sino Sindh Resources Ltd (SSRL) which is located in Block I of the same Thar region; it is also a CPEC project and is owned by Chinese group Shanghai Electric Power Company Ltd. It comprises a 7.8 Mt/y open-pit coal mine and installation of a 1,320MW coal-fired power plant (2 x 660MW). Mining work was set to be completed by end 2021 and the first unit of the power plant is due to start working from 2022 while the entire project is scheduled to be completed by 2023. SSRL has a large mining fleet comprised of 55 t MT86D Chinese wide body trucks from LGMG to be loaded by 28 Liebherr R 9100B hydraulic mining excavators, the largest single mine fleet of this model in the world.

The SECMC mine uses a large fleet of 130 Chinese 60 t TONLY TL875 wide body trucks for coal haulage which are loaded by 18 hydraulic excavators, mainly Komatsu PC1250 units. The record production has resulted in the generation of over 10,000 GwHs of electricity, contributing to the national grid. Besides, the company’s record production of coal and generation of electricity using Thar’s local reserves has benefitted the national economy by saving $210 million through import substitution during the same period.

[Riaz Haq]

Pakistan’s Thar desert lignite coal boom gathers pace with SECMC mine hitting 10 Mt & SSRL mine starting up

https://im-mining.com/2021/12/31/pakistans-thar-desert-lignite-coal...


During the course of operations, SECMC has maintained a stellar safety record following international and world-class benchmarks – a feat that has earned international acknowledgements from organizations such as British Safety Council. The Company has also adopted the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) framework to deploy high-impact interventions prioritising education, health, economic growth and women empowerment amongst other areas.

SECMC has also contributed to uplifting the local community by generating employment opportunities for the local population and creating other economic avenues for the community. It is pertinent to mention that 80% of the employees in SECMC are locals from Sindh where the project has provided significant socio-economic benefit to the local Thari population.

“The 10 Mt coal production mark is a commendable achievement considering the constant fluctuation and vulnerability in international coal prices,” said Chief Executive Officer SECMC – Amir Iqbal. He added that Thar coal is the best resource to help the national economy in terms of easing out the pressure on the Current Account Deficit and also indigenise the current energy mix which is heavily reliant on imported fuels. Currently, the second phase of the SECMC mine is already under development which will increase SECMC’s production to 7.6 Mt per annum with a cumulative power generation of 1,320MW.

Talking about the subsequent phase III expansion project, Iqbal said that the estimated investment for phase III expansion is to be approximately $100 million which will enable Thar Block-II to achieve a sustainable supply of 12.2 Mt of coal annually over the next 30 years. SECMC is expected to complete this expansion by June 2023 and with this expansion coal price of SECMC mine is to be reduced to under $30/t – making it the cheapest fuel source in the country ensuring economic stability and energy security for the country. In addition, phase III expansion will also enable Pakistan to save $420 million per annum on the account of import substitution whilst also leading to a reduction of PKR74 billion in circular debt on an annual basis.

[Riaz Haq]

Work on CPEC's M-14 Motorway completed

http://en.ce.cn/Insight/202201/04/t20220104_37226065.shtml

ISLAMABAD, Jan. 4 (Gwadar Pro) - Federal Minister for Communication and Postal Services Murad Saeed on Monday announced that the construction on Hakla-Dera Ismail Khan Motorway (M-14), a mega project under Western alignment of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), has been “completed with an amount of Rs. 81 billion”.

“Work on Hakla-D.I. Khan Motorway Khan [is] completed; the present Government has invested Rs. 81 billion in this motorway from the national exchequer,” Murad Saeed said in Twitter, adding the construction on the motorway began in 2019.

Prime Minister Imran Khan is expected to formally inaugurate M-14 Motorway for public. “The Motorway is ready for operation and will be inaugurated at any time depending on the Prime Minister’s schedule,” an NHA official told Gwadar Pro, on the condition of anonymity.

M-14 Motorway is a 293 km long mega project under the Western Alignment of CPEC, connecting the southern parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) with the rest of the country that will lead to social and economic prosperity in the area.

The motorway passed through Attock, Mianwali districts of Punjab and reaches KP. The last Interchange of the motorway is Yarik in D.I. Khan while Abdul Khel Interchange opens to Lakki Marwat district of KP. M-14 will mainstream the district of D.I. Khan, Tank, Lakki Marwat, Karak, Bannu and other adjoining areas with the federal capital Islamabad and the rest of the country. In the next phase, M-14 will be connected to Zhob-Quetta (N-50) to establish a link among the upper parts of Punjab, southern KP and Balochistan.

M-14 Motorway will transform the lives of the present and future generations of the entire area economically, financially, socially and educationally.

[Riaz Haq]

Naulong dam to irrigate 4,7000 acres near Jhal Magsi


https://dailythepatriot.com/naulong-dam-to-irrigate-47000-acres-nea...

ISLAMABAD: The Naulong Dam Project will irrigate 47,000 acres of land near Jhal Magsi,Balochistan. The dam located on Mula River at Sunt near Gandawa City in Tehsil and District Jhal Magsi will help reduce poverty, socio-economic uplift, and women’s emancipation.

The dam would generate 4.4 MW of cheap hydropower energy, said an official of the Ministry of Water Resources. The dam is 186 feet high and has a total storage capacity of 242,452 AFd. Live storage is 200,000 AF.

The annual benefits to agriculture will be Rs. 2.017 billion, power Rs. 0.413 Billion, fisheries Rs. 0.018 billion. The dam will create 23,500 agricultural jobs. It would help protect the catchment areas from the deluge.

[Riaz Haq]

Dualization work of Karachi, Quetta, Chaman to start from Feb - Daily Times

https://dailytimes.com.pk/874972/dualization-work-of-karachi-quetta...

Minister for Communications and Postal Services Murad Saeed on Tuesday informed the Senate that dualization work of 796 kilometers long Karachi to Quetta and Chaman road would be started next month.

Responding to a calling attention notice regarding an alarming number of traffic accidents on RCD Highway, N-25, which runs from Karachi to Quetta and Chaman, he said, “Contract has been awarded for the construction of the first section of 330 kilometers of the highway and Prime Minister Imran Khan will perform groundbreaking of the project next month”.

About the remaining two sections, the minister said that one is at feasibility, while the other is at the designing stage. He said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has completed work on 2,032 kilometers of road projects and also started work on an additional 7879 km of roads network. He said that the road projects started in Balochistan were including Zhob Kuchlak, Nokandi Mashkeel, Khuzdar Bisimah, Ziarat Morr Kuch Harnai, Hoshab Awaran, Dera Murad Jamali Bypass, Quetta Bypass, and Kuchlak Khuzdar.

[Riaz Haq]

For a long time we have known that improved transport accessibility leads to more opportunities and better lives.

ANDREW DABALENSHOMIK MEHNDIRATTA|JANUARY 24, 2022

https://blogs.worldbank.org/transport/knowledge-action-new-way-maxi...

Accessibility describes how easy (or difficult) it is for people to reach services and opportunities. When you look at the data, significant accessibility gaps persist around the world. Globally 51% of individuals living in low-income countries reside within an hour of a city compared to 91% of individuals in high-income countries. This limited access to urban centers hinders rural populations from accessing services and opportunities, including healthcare, education, jobs, and markets. Gender plays an important role as well: as these findings from Pakistan illustrate, women typically must cover greater distances to reach basic services. Even for people living in cities, accessibility may vary depending on the availability of public transport, the impact of traffic congestion.

Lack of access is systematically linked to inferior development outcomes, even more so if motorized transport is not available. The inability to travel to healthcare facilities, for instance, has been associated with increased mortality and morbidity from treatable conditions. Conversely, improved access is often synonymous with improved development outcomes. For example, women with access to roads in Pakistan are twice more likely (14% vs 28%) to go to pre-natal consultations. In rural Morocco, girls’ enrollment in primary schools increased from 17% to 54% when their access to roads improved.

Looking particularly at rural roads investments, the construction of a new road can lead to a chain of positive impacts. When a rural community gets connected to the road network, people who could not reach healthcare, schools, or other essential services before are suddenly able to do so. Workers can access more and better jobs. Farmers can sell their products in more distant markets. But these outcomes can only materialize if rural road projects are carefully planned and prioritized. Also, while investments in road networks are often a critical first step toward enhancing accessibility, they should be integrated into a broader investment package targeting social and technological development overall.

However, transforming this knowledge into action had been hard to operationalize. Lack of data regarding the transport network, opportunities, limited computing power to calculate travel times in large areas and lack of consistent framework had made it hard for us to take this academic research into an operational reality. We needed to understand exactly which transport projects will have the highest impact on accessibility? How would this accessibility transform into household welfare? And how do we create tools to inform planning and investment decisions?

To address these questions, the World Bank’s Transport and Poverty and Equity teams jointly developed a new framework that relies on high-resolution mapping and other sophisticated analytical tools to provide a more granular view of how rural road infrastructure can benefit communities.

We are now able to deploy all that knowledge into operational action, by developing an analytical framework that highlights spatial disparities in access to services and opportunities, calculates the expected gains in accessibility from investments into road infrastructure and thereby informs the placement of transport investments throughout the region.

[Riaz Haq]

The China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Western Route development is strategically significant to realize broader connectivity and regional common prosperity.

https://www.app.com.pk/global/cpec-western-route-development-strate...

These views were expressed by Cheng Xizhong, visiting Prof. at Southwest University of Political Science and Law, and former Defence Attache in South Asian countries said.


The construction of the Hakla-D I Khan Motorway, a milestone achievement on the CPEC Western Route, has been completed and put into operation, which provides fast connectivity to the locals as well as paves the way for preparing the shortest route for logistics moving to and from northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to Pakistan’s Gwadar Port.


Now, transportation infrastructure is the top priority. So far, the construction of the 235 km Quetta-Sohrab Road, the 449 km Surab-Hoshab Road, the 193 km Hoshab-Gwadar Road, the 210 km D I Khan-Zhob Road and the 297 km Hakla-D I Khan Motorway have been successfully completed, he said in his article published by China Economic Net (CEN).


Other transportation infrastructure projects on the CPEC Western Route, including the 305 km Zhob-Quetta Road, the 110 km Basima-Khuzdar Road, the Nokundi-Mashkel Road and the 146 km Hoshab-Awaran Road are under construction, especially the D I Khan-Zhob Road and Zhob-Quetta Road under construction will minimize the travel time from the federal capital to Quetta.


Compared with the eastern region, western areas of Pakistan are underdeveloped. Therefore, he believed that the construction of the CPEC Western Route and development of the western areas of Pakistan are of great strategic significance.


First, the construction of transportation infrastructure can drive the development of other infrastructures such as energy, modern agriculture and industry and Special Economic Zones (SEZs), completely changing the long-term lag of social and economic development in the western region and usher in the prosperity in western part of the country.


Second, the surrounding areas of the roads and motorways on the CPEC Western Route comprise of landscapes and farms producing vegetables, pulses, grains and fruits, especially the high-quality mangoes and dates.


Therefore, western development will open up the fertile hidden areas of North Punjab, Southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan to all kinds of trade and business. Thus, it can promote large-scale employment, eliminate local poverty and enable the local people to embark on the road of prosperity together with people in other parts of the country.


Third, from the perspective of regional connectivity, the construction of the CPEC Western Route has very important regional strategic significance. Western Pakistan is adjacent to Afghanistan and Iran. Once the transportation infrastructure in western part is fully completed, it will create conditions for the CPEC westward extension.


In this way, the prosperity created by CPEC can radiate to the whole Central and West Asia through Afghanistan and Iran, so as to realize broader regional connectivity and regional common prosperity, he said.