ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday pledged to accelerate work on the long-delayed Kachhi Canal and proposed renaming the project the “Pakistan Canal,” as the federal government allocated Rs368 billion for water storage schemes during the current fiscal year.
The canal is intended to improve irrigation and agricultural access in Balochistan, where scattered settlements, water shortages and long distances have increased the cost of development and public-service delivery.
Shehbaz made the announcement while responding to questions from participants of the National Workshop Balochistan at the Prime Minister’s House in Islamabad.
A participant from Balochistan urged the government to speed up construction of the Kachhi Canal, prompting the prime minister to assure the gathering that work on the project would be completed on an accelerated basis.
He said the Rs368 billion allocation covered water storage projects across Pakistan, including the Kachhi Canal scheme.
The prime minister proposed changing the project’s name to the “Pakistan Canal,” presenting it as a development initiative of national importance rather than one limited to a single province.
Federal Support for Balochistan Projects
Addressing delegates, Shehbaz said Pakistan could not achieve balanced development unless all four provinces progressed together.
He said Balochistan’s vast territory and widely dispersed population required comparatively greater resources to provide education, healthcare, transport and other public services.
The prime minister referred to the 2010 National Finance Commission Award, under which Balochistan’s share of federal resources was increased with the support of the other provinces.
He said Punjab had contributed around Rs11 billion annually under the arrangement since 2010, describing the transfer as part of the provinces’ shared national responsibility.
Shehbaz also highlighted a programme to convert approximately 27,000 agricultural tube wells in Balochistan to solar power. He said the initiative cost about Rs75 billion, with the federal government contributing nearly Rs50 billion.
N-25 Dualisation Project
The prime minister also discussed the planned conversion of the Karachi-Chaman N-25 highway into a dual carriageway.
The road has frequently been described as the “bloody highway” because of fatal traffic accidents along the route.
Shehbaz said the project would cost approximately Rs300 billion and was expected to be completed within one to two years.
He said savings resulting from an earlier decline in petroleum prices had been directed towards financing the highway project.
The government expects the dualisation to improve road safety, reduce travel times and strengthen transport links between Karachi and several districts of Balochistan.
Laptop Scheme and Danish Schools
During the question-and-answer session, a participant from Chagai asked whether the government’s laptop programme would continue, particularly for female students facing financial constraints.
The prime minister said the scheme would continue and that laptops would be distributed nationally on merit.
He said around 100,000 laptops were distributed during the previous year and that Balochistan’s quota had been set 10 per cent higher than those of other provinces.
Shehbaz also said nine Danish Schools were being developed in Balochistan under a programme modelled on the Punjab initiative.
The residential schools are intended to provide free education, classrooms, sports facilities and accommodation to children from low-income families.
Transparency and Tax Recovery
Responding to a question about governance reforms, the prime minister said the federal government was working to extend transparency measures to the provinces.
He cited reforms at the Federal Board of Revenue and said approximately Rs800 billion in previously evaded indirect taxes, including sales tax, had been recovered during the last financial year.
Shehbaz said the recovery represented only a small part of the broader work required to improve revenue collection and governance.
He added that Pakistan needed sustained institutional reforms and disciplined economic management rather than short-term measures.
The prime minister concluded by saying residents of Quetta, Kalat, Chaman and other parts of Balochistan should receive the same level of state attention in development, education and healthcare as citizens elsewhere in the country.
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