High Court Orders Authorities to Accelerate Work on Major Highway

The Peshawar High Court directed authorities on Thursday to accelerate construction on the Indus Highway, expressing concern over long delays and growing public hardship.

During the hearing, a two-member bench led by Chief Justice S. M. Atiq Shah reviewed reports submitted by the National Highway Authority and relevant government departments and found them unsatisfactory. The court questioned why progress remained slow despite its earlier instructions.

The petitioner’s lawyer told the court that work on the Indus Highway began in 2018 with an estimated cost of Rs. 30 billion, which has now increased to Rs. 41 billion. He added that although eighty five percent of the project has been completed, no proper traffic management system exists on the highway.

The lawyer also raised earlier concerns about repair work on the Hazara Motorway. Officials informed the bench that the Ministry of Communications had held a high level meeting after the court’s previous directives. However, the Chief Justice noted that the NHA currently has no chairman and questioned how the authority could function effectively without leadership.

The court also viewed a video of the highway and criticized the design of a u-turn, calling it unsafe and highlighting that two hundred seventy four lives have already been lost on the route.

The NHA general manager said the authority has requested six billion rupees for the current fiscal year and four billion for the next. The court summoned the Kohat Commissioner for the next hearing after noting the lack of police presence on the highway despite earlier claims.