FFICIENT highways, offering quick and hassle-free connectivity between cities and towns, are a key part of any nation`s infrastructure. Hence the report that the National Highway Authority on Wednesday gave the green signal for construction of the Karachi-Lahore Motorway should be welcomed. However, we must also point out that while the state, especially the ruling PML-N, has a penchant for announcing impressive-sounding mega projects, it can be quite slothful in following these up and ensuring they are up to the mark. The list of public-sector projects that have gone over budget or have missed their deadline in Pakistan is simply too long to replicate here. The proposed motorway is no local road project; it is a massive, nearly 1,200km-long undertaking that will require proper planning as well as seamless coordination between the centre and the Sindh and Punjab governments. Have the route and land acquisition details been finalised? If so, these should be shared with the public. The motorway must have sufficient infrastructure along its route to allow travellers to rest as it is a long journey from Karachi to Lahore by road. There is significant traffic, especially between south Punjab and Sindh, and once the project is complete it should improve connectivity between the south of the country and the northern region, though the railways must not be completely forsaken. Also, without compromising on quality, facilities along the route must be affordable and comfortable for the common traveller, or else the project may turn into a white elephant.

While this inter-provincial link is developed, national and provincial planners must also come up with proposals to improve Sindh`s road network. Both the roads managed by the federally run NHA and those controlled by the provincial government are in bad shape. Apart from patches of the Karachi-Hyderabad Superhighway and some main roads in Thar, most of the province`s road infrastructure, including the National and Indus highways, is in a shambles. Parts of many inter-district and local roads are simply not motorable. Although some roads were damaged in the 2010 and 2011 floods, reconstruction has been painfully slow. Maintenance of the road network is not up to the mark and, along with construction, is marred by corruption, with roads crumbling a few years after they have been built. For Sindh to reap the benefits of a motorway linking it to Punjab, both the federal and provincial administrations need to vastly improve its internal road network.