ENGINEERING POST April 2022 Consultant loungE ENGINEERING POST www.enggpost.com 51
ENGINEERING POST January-2020 Rs 270 billion approved for the Karachi Circular Railway by ECNEC Ameeting held under the su- greater Thal canal project was also pervision of minister of fi- approved which constituted about nance Shaukat Tareen, took 38 billion rupees. up a number of important sum- The circular railway project is maries to be observed upon which stated to be a mode of chief urban were put forward by the ministry of transportation in the Karachi city, planning, development and special and the construction of a 43 km initiatives. The executive commit- long dual track urban mass transit tee of national economic council system is envisioned for the project. (ECNEC) gave the permission for a This project is planned to be com- 270 billion rupees investment for pleted in a span of three years. The developmental projects which in- planning, execution and develop- clude the Karachi circular railway mental schemes are said to be su- project standing at a total cost of pervised by Karachi Circular 201 billion rupees. Railway Management Company Moreover, investment on the (KCRMC). 52
ENGINEERING POST January-2020 53
ENGINEERING POST January-2020 Measures to boost Inclusive Economic Growth Engineering Post Report for financial year 2020-21 to differ- PSDP 2021-22 for implementation also include pandemic laws and cri- ent federal ministries and the line of physical planning and housing sis management regulations, In Pakistan, the process of ur- departments for implementation of sector programmes by various min- guidelines for urban design retro- banization and economic devel- physical planning and housing sec- istries/divisions and line depart- fits; and digital plans with use of opment has been mutually tor programmes/projects. Similarly, ments as per the following: ubiquitous technology for geo-fenc- interdependent . Consistent with the provincial government also had Formulation of urban contin- ing, location finding and community the global trend, the urban centres allocated substantial amount for gency plans to mitigate and adapt engagement. in Pakistan have also become the the execution of projects relating to to the crises as well as Preparation/ development of In- drivers of economic growth. the sector. restoration/recovery plans to man- tegrated Strategic Development It is estimated that the cities con- The Ministry of Planning, Devel- age post crisis scenario. Urban con- Plans as well as Smart City Mas- tribute around 80 per cent of the opment and Special Initiatives has tingency plans quite obviously will ter Plans for cities on CPEC corri- country’s Gross Domestic Product also launched a National Pro- focus adopting a combination of dor including Gwadar. (GDP).To achieve the sectoral objec- gramme to mitigate the impact of proactive surveillance, routine com- Promote public-private partner- tives, an allocation of approximately pandemic of COVID-19 with an out- munication, rapid isolation and ship for housing and new urban Rs 26 billion was made in the Pub- lay of Rs 70 billion. personal and community protection centres on the build-own-operate lic Sector Development Programme An amount of approximately Rs measures . Urban contingency (BOO) and build-operate-transfer (PSDP) of the Federal Government 49 billion was also allocated in the plans so being prepared accordingly (BOT) basis. 54
Settlement of Reko Diq brings $10 billion investment in Balochistan Pakistan has successfully reached a cor- exceeding $11 billion. sponse with regard to this development. dial settlement for the Reko Diq mine The federal and Balochistan governments They are of the view that this settlement will case and has narrowly evaded a fine and two international firms, Antofagasta bring more good things to Pakistan. PLC and Barrick Gold Corporation, have reached an agreement in principle on a framework to reconstitute the Reko Diq project. According to the agreement the Toronto-based Barrick will be granted a mining lease, exploration license and sur- face rights while Antofagasta would exit the project. In developing the project, nearly $10 bil- lion will be invested in Balochistan, includ- ing $1 billion for social uplift projects including roads, schools, hospitals and cre- ation of technical training institute for min- ing. The investment will create over 8,000 new jobs. Reko Diq is one of the largest undevel- oped copper and gold deposits in the world, capable of producing 200,000 tons of copper and 250,000 ounces of gold a year for more than half a century. The project was suspended in 2011 as Pakistan denied Barrick and Antofagasta Plc a license to develop Reko Diq, leading to a dispute. Experts shared their highly positive re-
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