China and Pakistan’s dream project China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has been eclipsed. Despite all the efforts, the work on this project is not progressing. According to the recent reports, the work of this project is running behind schedule. So far only three projects out of 15 have been completed. Let us tell you that this route was to pass through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, so India also opposes it.
According to the Express Tribune newspaper, so far, Pakistan has completed work on only three projects in Gwadar at a cost of $ 300 million. At present, more than a dozen projects are incomplete, including projects for water supply and electricity generation.
CPEC is a 3000 km long infrastructure project that will connect Jinjiang in the northwest of China and Gwadar Port in West Pakistan. While Jinjiang is a Uyghur-dominated area, Gwadar Port comes under Balochistan province. Officials associated with CPEC say that work is going behind due to some socio-economic benefits in Gwadar.
The projects that have been completed include Gwadar Smart Port City at a cost of $4 million. Apart from this, the physical infrastructure of Gwadar Port, Free Zone Phase 1 and Pak-China Technical and Vocational Institute have been completed at a cost of $10 million. Even now power generation and water supply work is not done in Gwadar port area itself. Power at the port is imported from neighboring Iran.
According to the Express Tribune report, Gwadar needs 20 million gallons of water daily. Under CPEC, 77 lakh gallons from Swad Dam and Shadi Kure Dam is to be considered. However, its work has not yet been completed. Last month, Pakistan’s planning minister, Ahsan Iqbal, issued an order against the CPEC, saying it was misusing resources and facing difficulties in implementing the regional connectivity programme.