Senate Committee seeks answers on Sindh railways over Thar Coal link approval
KARACHI: The Senate Standing Committee on Planning, Development and Special Initiatives on Tuesday held a meeting at the Sindh Secretariat to review ongoing Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) projects in Sindh, with particular focus on major infrastructure, water supply schemes and thar Coal railway link.
The meeting was chaired by Committee Chairperson Senator Quratulain Marri and attended by Senators Jam Saifullah Khan, Atta ur Rehman, Dost Ali Jeesar, Zameer Hussain Ghumro and Ashraf Ali Jatoi, while Senator Saadia Abbasi joined online.
Officials briefed the committee on PSDP projects for 2025–26, including the K-IV water supply project for Karachi, Sukkur–Hyderabad–Karachi Motorway (M-6), New Karachi–Hyderabad Motorway (M-10) and the Main Line-1 (ML-1) railway project.
Taking strong exception to the approval of the PC-I of the Thar Coal Rail Connectivity project, Senator Quratulain Marri questioned the Secretary Railways on why the Sindh government—despite being a stakeholder—was not taken on board. She also sought to know whether any accountability had been fixed for approving the PC-I without provincial consultation and for increasing the project cost from Rs53 billion to Rs90 billion.
Addressing Senator Jam Saifullah Khan, the chairperson asked for identification of those responsible for revising the PC-I and bypassing the Sindh government. Senator Jam Saifullah Khan reminded the Railways Secretary that an MoU had been signed between the federal and Sindh governments regarding the Thar Coal project, warning that providing incorrect information to the Senate committee amounted to disrespect. He directed the secretary to submit a comprehensive and accurate report within one month.
Briefing the committee, the Secretary Railways said the ML-1 project had faced delays since 2015 due to various reasons, adding that financing from the Asian Development Bank was expected, after which construction of the first section from Karachi to Rohri would begin next year.
Sindh Planning and Development Board Chairman Najam Shah complained that several requests for No Objection Certificates (NOCs) for overhead bridges at railway crossings were pending with the Railways Department. The committee directed the Secretary Railways to issue all pending NOCs and submit a compliance report within one month.
Responding to queries by Senator Saadia Abbasi on the Karachi Green Line and Thar Coal Rail projects, CEO PIDCL Waseem Bajwa said the Green Line BRT Common Corridor project had an allocation of Rs3 billion this year, all of which had been utilized in the first two quarters. He said construction had been delayed for two months due to issues with the Sindh government, which had now been resolved, and the project was expected to be completed by October 31 next year.
The chairperson also expressed displeasure over the absence of the Secretary Communications, noting repeated non-attendance in previous meetings, and ordered that he be summoned. An official from the Communications Department informed the committee that the tender for the Karachi–Hyderabad–Sukkur (M-6) Motorway had been issued and work on two of its five sections would commence by June 2026.
Sindh Minister Jam Khan Shoro raised concerns that following the closure of the Pakistan Works Department, Sindh had been handed over only six out of 27 ongoing projects, while all projects in other provinces had been transferred in full. Najam Shah further informed the committee that federal funds had not been released for the last two quarters, prompting Senator Marri to direct the Finance Division to release Sindh’s funds at the earliest.
On the K-IV project, Additional Secretary Water Resources Mehr Ali Shah said the scheme was being executed with World Bank financing and involved both federal and provincial governments. Senator Marri stressed that delays would continue to escalate costs and urged officials to resolve issues related to the KB Feeder Project, a prerequisite set by the World Bank.
The chairperson directed the provincial agriculture secretary and federal additional secretary water resources to convene an urgent meeting with all consultants, including Wapda and NESPAK, to find a workable solution. She also asked the Planning Secretary Awais Manzoor Sumra to ensure that the project was sent to the Planning Division without further delay, warning that continued inaction was unacceptable.
“If the project does not reach the Planning Division within a week, inform the committee,” Senator Marri said, adding that she would personally review progress during her upcoming visit to Islamabad.
