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KARACHI :

The longest bridge on the Indus River in Pakistan, the 1.7 kilometre-long Sir Aga Khan Bridge, was inaugurated by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari at Jhirk-Mulakatiar on Monday.

He said the PPP was the first government to take up the issue of providing clean drinking water to the people of Sindh.

At the start of his speech, Bilawal congratulated Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah for constructing the longest bridge on the River Indus. “I am quite happy that the Sindh government has constructed another bridge on the River Indus,” he said.

It may be noted that the Sindh government had recently constructed the Thatta- Sujawal Bridge over the River Indus. The Sir Aga Khan Bridge will connect Thatta and Tando Mohammad Khan.

Shah said that bridges on the River Indus are always constructed by the federal government but, keeping in view the problems, issues and requirements for development, the Sindh government has constructed another bridge on the river itself.

“We have associated this bridge with Sir Aga Khan because the first jamaat khana in Pakistan was established in Jhirk, which was once a bustling city. The bridge has been constructed under public private partnership at a cost of Rs4.5 billion,” he said.

According to the CM, the government will construct all the other connecting roads like Tando Mohammad Khan, Badin Road, up to Hyderabad and Tharparkar. Shah said that he was striving to provide quality education and health services to the people of Sindh.

“The network of roads will bring prosperity in the entire belt and also boost their agri-economy because of their access to main markets,” he remarked.

The CM spoke about the energy sector, particularly coal-fired power projects launched in Thar. “The development of the road network will help to transport machinery from the Karachi port,” he explained.

He said they were paying special attention to law and order, particularly the ongoing wave of terrorism. “We have defeated the terrorists and will crush them again in their nefarious designs to weaken the country and halt its development by killing our innocent people,” he said, adding through good education we can defeat the mindset of extremism.

Earlier, the PPP chairperson and chief minister inaugurated the bridge by unveiling the plaque.