Rs. 10 Billion Expressway Officially Inaugurated in Gilgit-Baltistan
Chief Minister Haji Gulbar Khan on Tuesday officially inaugurated the Tangir-Darel Expressway, a major infrastructure project valued at Rs. 10 billion and funded under the federal Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP).
The 82-kilometer-long road aims to connect the remote and flood-prone valleys of Tangir and Darel in the Diamer district and is expected to be completed by November 2027.
Speaking at the ceremony in Tangir Valley, the chief minister called the expressway a “historic breakthrough” for the region. “For decades, Tangir and Darel have suffered due to inaccessibility. This project marks the beginning of a new era of development,” he said.
According to official documents, the expressway includes two segments—Tangir and Darel Expressways—with Rs. 6.03 billion allocated to these sections and Rs. 5.09 billion earmarked solely for construction. Although the project’s formal timeline begins in August 2025, construction is already underway, with over 23 percent completed.
The expressway’s launch comes amid deteriorating regional road conditions caused by landslides, cloudbursts, and glacial flooding. Major routes like Babusar Pass and the Karakoram Highway have seen closures in recent weeks, making this new expressway a crucial alternate route for emergency access and trade.
Additional development initiatives were also announced, including new expressways, water supply schemes worth Rs5 billion, a Rs350 million RCC bridge, and healthcare and agriculture projects.
Reference Link:- https://propakistani.pk/2025/08/06/rs-10-billion-expressway-officially-inaugurated-in-gilgit-baltistan/
Zamir Ahmed Awan is the founder and Chair of the Global Silk Route Research Alliance, a think tank in Islamabad. He studied engineering at Shanghai University in the 1980s, and years later he went back to China as Pakistan's science counsellor in Beijing, from 2010 until 2016, working on science and higher education cooperation between the two countries.…
