KP govt gives go-ahead for Chakdara-Rabaat expressway

PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Mahmood Khan on Monday gave the go-ahead for hiring of a consultant to conduct commercial and financial feasibility for the construction of an expressway from Chakdara to Rabaat in Lower Dir.

The proposed expressway will connect Chakdara to Rabaat via Ramla and Ouch villages through a five km-long tunnel.

It seems the KP government wants to appease the people of Dir who are angry over the shelving of the Chakdara-Chitral expressway project and have announced to launch a protest move.

The chief minister gave the approval for feasibility study of the project while chairing a meeting regarding the proposed project on Monday.

The 26 km expressway will be constructed with an estimated cost of Rs10.5 billions. Initially, it will be constructed from Chakdara Interchange of Swat Motorway to Rabaat, and will further be extended in the next phases.

The meeting was given a briefing on three various options of routes for the construction of the proposed expressway, and the forum agreed to the shortest route i.e. Chakdara to Rabaat via Ramla and Ouch.

Prime Minister Imran Khan during a meeting with parliamentarians of Dir in February 2020 had issued directives to start homework on the project.

In the light of the directives, the Communication and Works Department and Pakhtunkhwa Highways Authority started spade work on the project and came up with three possible options.

The meeting was informed that PC-II for the feasibility of the project had already been prepared and submitted to the concerned forum. T

he meeting was told that financial and commercial feasibility of the project would be completed in three months period, and the proposed Expressway will be an alternate to the existing N-45 from Chakdara to Rabaat.

It will have a five kilometer long tunnel which will reduce a travel distance of 23 kilometer approximately.