Abstract:
The country’s growth potential is determined from the ability of its Government in
planning and delivering infrastructure projects which are essential for sustainable growth.
Transport infrastructures are the most important infrastructure having value addition of 3-
5% in global GDP. If the transport infrastructures are not developed as per requisite pace,
economic growth of a country will be adversely effected. Pakistan suffers from dearth of
infrastructures in transport, power and irrigation. Major part of transport sector in
Pakistan is road sector having road density 0.32 Km/SqKm which is lower as compared
to other developing countries of the region. Pakistan addressed this massive need of
transport sector by launching National Trade Corridor Program (NTCP). Road is only
mode of transportation in state of AJ&K hence economic growth of this region is highly
dependent on development of road system.
This study is conducted to evaluate the current status of transport infrastructure and
challenges to be faced in developing these infrastructures on international standards in
AJ&K which is ultimate requirement of the region. The study evaluated the data of PSDP
of AJ&K with detail analysis of T&C sector. Focus of study remained on project
planning, appraisal and approval, allocation and expenditure procedures to determine the
bottlenecks in starting phases of project implementation. It was found from the analysis of
data that road infrastructures in AJ&K are inferior with low travel speed, high transport
tariff and high vehicle operating cost. The reasons behind these poor conditions were
found implementation of projects without feasibility study and detail designing of civil
work, incorrect time and cost estimation and inconsistent cash flow. National
Development Strategy (NDS), long term plans and transport strategy were not prepared to
address these issues which aggravate the problems. Transport sector projects
implemented by ERRA after earthquake, 2005 were also evaluated as a case study for
lesson learnt.
The study developed a framework for transport sector of AJ&K which identified key
actions on all levels to develop transport infrastructure. Recommendations were made for
different levels to address this urgent need of quality transport infrastructure to improve
socio-economic development in the region.
