Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Minister Amjad Hussain has called for immediate safety interventions along the Baltistan Road, warning that recurrent traffic incidents and hazards along the key route continue to pose a grave threat to human lives.
Urgent Action Sought from Highway Authorities
Addressing a high-level review convened to address traffic accidents and landslide-related disruptions on the thoroughfare, which is now officially designated as the Baltistan Highway, Chief Minister Hussain underscored the strategic and everyday necessity of the transit corridor. He noted that regular commuters, commercial travelers, and tourists routinely encounter severe disruption and dangerous conditions caused by persistent rockfalls and landslides along the mountainous alignment.
Highlighting national-level attention on the corridor, the chief minister stated that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has issued explicit directives instructing relevant departments to ensure protected, uninterrupted travel across the artery. In light of these instructions, Hussain urged both the National Highway Authority and the Frontier Works Organization to deploy targeted safety measures on an emergency basis to stabilize vulnerable sectors and minimize accident risks.
Infrastructure and Regional Investment Linkages
Beyond baseline public safety concerns, Chief Minister Hussain framed highway reliability as a foundational requirement for broader economic development, observing that Gilgit-Baltistan possesses substantial investment potential across the tourism and power generation sectors.
The administrative push for infrastructure reinforcement coincided with high-level economic deliberations, as Special Investment Facilitation Council Secretary Jameel Ahmed Qureshi met with Chief Minister Hussain. During the briefing, Qureshi detailed ongoing initiatives managed by the council to mobilize international investors into the region’s energy, tourism, and related strategic sectors, underscoring the necessity of secure transport infrastructure to support international and domestic capital inflows.
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