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Gilani okays $90m for Karakoram restoration project
Islamabad: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has approved $90 million (Dh330 million) for the restoration of the strategic Karakoram Highway (KKH) linking Pakistan and China out of the financial help provided by the Chinese government, said an official statement yesterday.
The credit facility had been extended by Beijing as part of a larger concession facility for flood reconstruction activities in communication, energy and transport Sectors, it said.
"The operationalisation of Karakoram Highway has been a priority of the government due to its strategic significance and being an important means of communication for the people, as well as important trade route," the statement said.
Also known as Friendship Highway, the 1,300km KKH connects China's Xinjiang with Pakistan's Gilgit-Baltistan region through the Karakoram mountain range.
Some 200 Chinese workers and 810 Pakistanis lost their lives while building the KKH, mostly in landslides and falls.
Cut off
The October 5, 2005 earthquake in Pakistan badly damaged some KKH sections and the road link between Pakistan and China was temporarily cut off until repaired by the Pakistan army engineers.
In view of the planned Diamir-Basha dam project in the region, realignment studies are underway with the help of the Chinese.
A 20km section of the KKIH was inundated and damaged last year when a massive landslide blocked the Hunza river and created a lake.
The government is pursing a plan to rebuild the damaged portion.
Islamabad: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has approved $90 million (Dh330 million) for the restoration of the strategic Karakoram Highway (KKH) linking Pakistan and China out of the financial help provided by the Chinese government, said an official statement yesterday.
The credit facility had been extended by Beijing as part of a larger concession facility for flood reconstruction activities in communication, energy and transport Sectors, it said.
"The operationalisation of Karakoram Highway has been a priority of the government due to its strategic significance and being an important means of communication for the people, as well as important trade route," the statement said.
Also known as Friendship Highway, the 1,300km KKH connects China's Xinjiang with Pakistan's Gilgit-Baltistan region through the Karakoram mountain range.
Some 200 Chinese workers and 810 Pakistanis lost their lives while building the KKH, mostly in landslides and falls.
Cut off
The October 5, 2005 earthquake in Pakistan badly damaged some KKH sections and the road link between Pakistan and China was temporarily cut off until repaired by the Pakistan army engineers.
In view of the planned Diamir-Basha dam project in the region, realignment studies are underway with the help of the Chinese.
A 20km section of the KKIH was inundated and damaged last year when a massive landslide blocked the Hunza river and created a lake.
The government is pursing a plan to rebuild the damaged portion.
