KARACHI: The Sindh government has agreed to the federal government`s proposal to construct M-6 Motorway on a separate track from Karachi, instead of initiating it from Hyderabad, to Sukkur.

The press statement issued from CM House onThursdaysaidthatFederalCommunication Minister Aleem Khan during his meeting with Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah proposed that the motorway might be started from Karachi via Hyderabad to Sukkur, instead of contracting it from Hyderabad to Sukkur, to facilitate the port traffic also. The CM agreed to the proposal and discussed the modality of its construction.

The proposal was floated apparently in the backdrop of a Sindh High Court bench`s concern over the mere conversion of Superhighway into the M-9 Motorway during the hearing of around 70 petitions filed between 2017 and 2021, mostly relating to land disputes around the motorway. Thebench had wondered why the National Highway Authority (NHA) converted an already functioning Superhighway into the motorway and asked as to why the authority was not constructing a new motorway between Karachi and Hyderabad.

During the discussion between the chief minister and the federal minister, it was agreed that the M-6 Motorway would be constructed from Karachi to Hyderabad and Sukkur in Public-Private Partnership mode.

Finally, another proposal was discussed under which the federal and provincial governments might form a consortium to construct the road on equal partnership, with the CM saying that his team would study the proposal and get back to the federal ministry.

They agreed to explore the possibility of constructing the motorway through a PublicPrivate Partnership (PPP) or a consortium to be formed by the provincial and federal governments. The CM said that his team would study the options and ways to make this happen.

The meeting was attended among othersby Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah, Secretary to CM Raheem Shaikh, Works Secretary Mohammad Ali Shaikh, Federal Communication Secretary Ali Sher Mehsud and NHA Chairman Shaharyar Sultan.

It may be noted that the Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway project envisages the construction of a 306-kilometer long, six-lane wide, accesscontrolled motorway. The motorway is proposed as a high-speed toll road facility for efficient and safe transportation, which will start from Hyderabad and terminate at Naro Canal.

It was pointed out that the Public Private Partnership (PPP) agreement for the construction of the Motorway (M-6) project was signed with a private consortium in December 2022 but due to some reason, the work could not be started and the partnership was cancelled.

The chief minister urged the federal minister to approve handing over of the Lyari Expressway so that it could be opened for heavy traffic, saying that the provincial government would upgrade the Lyari Expressway within six months and then open it for heavy traffic also.

The federal minister told the CM that the fed-eral communication secretary would hold a meeting with the Sindh chief secretary to discuss the ways and means to hand over the expressway to Sindh government.

The CM and the federal minister also discussed the NOC issue of Link Road interchange pending in the NHA. The minister said that before his meeting with the CM, he had issued the NOC.

In the meeting, the CM pointed out that the workon the 90-km road from GharotoKetiBundar was started in 2015 and 15 years had passed but it was not completed yet.

The CM was told that out of 90 km of the road, 59 km had been completed up to Gharo at Baghan City. The remaining 31 km of road from Baghan to Keti Bandar was yet to be completed.

The condition of road from Thatta to Keenjhar also came under discussion.