ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Communications Abdul Aleem Khan has issued a firm deadline to the National Highway Authority, directing that all road projects in their final stages be completed before the arrival of the monsoon season. The order came during a high-level review meeting attended by senior officials, including the communications secretary and the NHA chairman.
The minister made it clear that no delays, administrative lapses or technical shortcomings would be tolerated. He instructed officials to accelerate work on every near-completion project and ensure they are opened to the public before heavy rains begin. Special emphasis was placed on the bridge at the Peshawar Northern Bypass, which he ordered to be completed and operational before July.
Aleem Khan stressed that speed alone would not be enough. He directed that feasibility studies for all NHA projects must be fully accurate and technically sound. According to the minister, even minor planning errors can lead to major financial losses and long-term structural problems, making precision and transparency essential for every scheme.
In a major policy decision, the minister ordered the Lahore-Sialkot Motorway to be widened from four lanes to six. He also instructed that the upcoming Sialkot-Kharian Motorway and Kharian-Rawalpindi Motorway be constructed as six-lane corridors from the outset to accommodate future traffic growth.
The minister expressed disappointment over what he described as a lack of seriousness by the governments of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab regarding funding commitments for the Peshawar Northern Bypass and the Rawalpindi-Kahuta Road. He noted that the federal government had waited five months for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to release funds for the bypass project.
Warning that national development cannot remain hostage to bureaucratic delays, Aleem Khan said the NHA would step in and complete these strategic projects independently if provincial governments fail to act. His message underscored the federal government’s determination to deliver modern highways on time and with uncompromising engineering standards.
