ISLAMABAD: The Peshawar High Court has directed federal secretaries, including those of finance and communication, to hold an urgent meeting with the National Highway Authority to resolve obstacles delaying the completion of the Indus Highway project. The directive came from a bench comprising Chief Justice Syed Mohammad Attique Shah and Justice Mohammad Ijaz Khan, who expressed strong concern over the condition of major highways and the alarming rise in accidents.

Chief Justice Shah noted that 274 people had died in road accidents on the Indus Highway over the past two years, stressing that the court could not ignore the human cost of administrative delays. Justice Shah added that residents of the southern districts were already suffering due to terrorism and deserved immediate relief through improved road infrastructure and safer travel conditions.

The bench reviewed the status of key highways and roads including the Indus Highway, Booni Buzhung Road, Swat Expressway and Hazara Motorway. Officials were reminded that in September the court had ordered NHA to restore the Indus Highway to a hazard free condition meeting the highest engineering and safety standards. However, the court was informed that progress remained slow and the NHA chairman’s post had been lying vacant, raising questions about effective oversight.

NHA counsel told the court that 85 percent of the work on the Indus Highway had been completed. He claimed traffic accidents were largely the result of inadequate deployment of traffic police and uncontrolled traffic movement, which also created difficulties for construction teams. He added that NHA had requested six billion rupees in funding, with five billion expected in January.

The court recalled that the finance ministry had earlier stated that one hundred and twenty seven billion rupees had been allocated for NHA projects and it was the authority’s responsibility to prioritise its spending. Officials argued that recent floods forced diversion of funds to emergency needs. Regarding security and traffic management, the additional advocate general said the Kohat commissioner had been appointed focal person and had deployed eighty traffic officials at sixteen key points, a claim disputed by the NHA counsel. The bench adjourned the case to December 11 and directed the focal person to file a fresh detailed report.

Turning to the Booni Buzhung Road in Upper Chitral, the bench ordered NHA to speed up work and submit a progress report within two weeks. The additional attorney general was instructed to take up funding matters with the Planning Commission and the federal finance secretary. NHA’s chief engineer told the court that work on the twenty eight kilometre road first began in 2007, was revived in 2019 and had suffered delays due to frequent transfers. He assured the bench that the project would be completed by June 2026 and committed to carrying out construction in two shifts to accelerate progress.