PESHAWAR: Pakhtunkhwa Olasi Tehreek (POT) has criticised the federal government for ignoring construction of the western route in China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and urged the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan governments, Fata`s members of parliament and leaders of various political parties to join hands for taking a unified stand to get due share in the multi-billion dollars project.

While distributing handbills titled `current budget and CPE C` among people here on Sunday, POT chairman Dr Said Alam Mehsud said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had promised in anall-party conference on Jan 15 this year to implement the original route of CPEC, but he failed to 1(eep his words.

He said that the route had been changed to benefit Lahore at the cost of interests of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Northern Areas, and Fata.

He said that KP was touched at Paharpur tehsil of Dera Ismail Khan by a 55-kilometer link road which could hardly be completed till 2018.

He said that the government had neither mentioned the western route in the current federal budget nor allocated funds for the purpose.

The POT chief asked the leaders of various political parties and provincial governments of KP and Balochistan to take a unified stand forconstruction of the western route which should be started from Burhan via M-1 Motorway to Peshawar, FR Kohat, Karak, Bannu, Lakl(i Marwat, Dera Ismail Khan, Zhob, Qila Saifullah and Quetta to touch Gwadar.

This, he said, should be a six-lane motorway having all components of railways, oil and gas pipelines, fiber optic cable, power supply, LNG, industrialzones and trade centers.

Mr Mehsud also said that the government had so far not conducted any environmental survey of CPEC and it could have a very negative environmental impact on the areas it would pass through.

`We will not accept `China-Punjab economic corridor` and take a unified stand for achieving due share in the project,` he said.