ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Murtaza Javed Abbasi notified the National Assembly on Tuesday that the Ministry of Planning and Development will be approached soon for an update on the allocation of funds in the next budget, in regards to the completion of the Lowari Tunnel project in Chitral.
He added that the revised PC-1 of Rs. 46 billion had been forwarded ahead for the ministry’s approval, after which the remaining work on Lowari Tunnel shall recommence.
This was initially intended to be a railway project in 2004, with an estimated cost of Rs. 18 billion. It was later redesigned as a tunnel in 2011. Until 2018, only a few phases of the project had been completed at the revised cost of Rs. 26 billion.
A ‘Call Attention Notice’ had been issued by MNA Moulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali about the incompletion of the project. He informed the NA that the Lowari Tunnel, once fully constructed, can help promote tourism in the area.
In response, Murtaza Javed Abbasi said it was unfortunate that the previous government had not funded the project during its tenure in the last 3.5 years.
