Economic Infrastructure and Communications Quetta

Introduction

Economic infrastructure and communications play a vital role in accelerating the pace of development. It is a necessary condition for further development.

Zarghoon Road Quetta.

 Mobilisation of labour from one location to another is facilitated by the presence of roads, while it also expands transportation of goods. With the construction of roads, towns develop rapidly and prosperity flourishes.

 The District Quetta is well linked by road, rail, air and telecommunication with other parts of the country. Quetta occupies a central and strategic position. It is seen as the gateway to central Asia. Hence there are ample opportunities and bright chances to be exploited. In the near future Central Asian States could be linked with Quetta (and Pakistan as a whole) through road, rail and air traffic.

Roads

 The district has 219 Km of metalled and 433 Km of shingle road. The important linking roads are:

1. Quetta - Yaru - Maizai - Chaman - Kandhar Road (Afghanistan).
2. Quetta - Killa Abdullah - Gulistan Road.
3. Quetta - Sibi Road.
4. Quetta - Zhob via Muslim Bagh Road.
5. Quetta - Kalat - Khuzdar - Karachi Road.
6. Quetta - Taftan - Zahidan Road.
7. Quetta via Ziarat - Loralai - Dera Ghazi Khan Road.

Quetta is linked with all the districts of Balochistan through a well developed network of roads. It is also directly linked with the other provinces through roads. Some roads were developed by the British and some of them (like the RCD highway) are of recent origin.

The presence of roads has benefited the residents of other provinces as well. The road construction has had a stimulating effect on different sectors of the economy like agriculture, industry and transport. Further roads have reduced the traffic pressure on the railway. Thus consumers, producers and intermediaries have benefited from the spread effects of road development.

 The construction, rehabilitation and maintenance of roads in the district are handled by different organizations. These organizations include: National Highway Authority, C&W Department, Cantonment Board, Municipal Corporation, Quetta Development Authority and District Council.

 There is a network of SDO, Overseers and others who assist in the activities of road development. The table below shows the roads in the district. It is evident that metalled and shingle roads cover a distance of 652 Km; out of that 433 Km is shingle, 219 Km is metalled road.

 The length of the National High way within the district of Quetta is 60 Km. It is important to note that shingle roads in the district link all villages within the district. Moreover, they also link the district with other districts of Balochistan.

 There is no data available that reflects the number of direct and indirect beneficiaries. However, it can be safely concluded that a large percentage of the district area is accessible by shingle or metalled roads. Therefore, the entire population living in that area is getting benefit from the roads, either directly or indirectly.

Transport

There is a computerized vehicle registration system in Quetta. The Vehicle Registration System is the same as in other districts of Balochistan. The procedure for imported vehicles is somewhat different from the Pakistani manufactured or assembled vehicles. For imported vehicles, the following documents have to be produced in order to get registration. 

1. Bill of Entry
2. Import Permit
3. Octroi Receipt
4. K.P.T. Receipt
5. Bill of landing

Necessary documents for Pakistani manufactured vehicles: 

1. Invoice of the firm
2. Sale certificate by distributor

The number of non-registered vehicles and motor cycles is not available. Many smuggled vehicles will be non registered.

 The bus service in district Quetta is linked with almost all the main towns/cities and villages. It is difficult to estimate the exact number of passengers per day per week. However, the common observation is that the buses are normally overloaded, (as an example: 45 buses are daily plying three time between Quetta and Sariab). An important issue is the lack of proper seating capacity for women.

Source: Development Statistics, BoS, GoB.

Rail- and Airways

The total length of the railway line passing through the district is 46 Km. There are 5 railway stations: Sariab - Sheikhmanda - Balely - Khuchlak - Quetta. The existing railway line in the district (and with other provinces) was developed by the British. It is worth mentioning that 23 tunnels were constructed during this work. Each of them is a masterpiece of engineering. Quetta is linked by railway line with all the provinces of Pakistan, from Quetta the first link is with Jacobabad in Sindh Province through Sibi. The second from Jacobabad to Lahore, from Lahore to Rawalpindi and then to Peshawar. Another link is between Jackabad and Karachi. Moreover, from Quetta the railway line runs to the Iranian Border (Zahidan via Nushki). The train also goes to Chaman, which is a border town near Afghanistan.

Radio and Television

The Government Radio Station in Balochistan was established in 1956, at Quetta. Before the advent of T.V, the only source of entertainment and information was radio. Radio is very popular in villages and remote areas. It provides cheap recreational facilities to the people. Radio is also engaged in providing educational programs. The news and other valuable information are broadcast through radio. The programs produced by different stations are mostly in local languages (Urdu, Balochi, Pashto, Brahui, Hazargai) making it very accessible. There is no data available on the numbers of television sets. The only proxy for T.V.s could be T.V. licenses. There is, however, a trend not to register one self as T.V or radio user. Nonetheless, according to information provided by Federal Bureau of Statistics, during 1992-93, 3,450 VCR and 17,670 TV sets were registered in Quetta district.

Telecommunications

There is a very good network of telecommunication in the district. There are more privately owned public call offices (PCO) than government PCOs. The number of registered private public call offices are 17, while some are doing the business without registration. The number of household and commercial telephones till January, 1997 are 34654. 32354 are private, 2300 are government telephone connections. A large number of people directly or indirectly benefit from these services.

 Post Offices / Courier Services

The postal services are very important, because of population growth, rapid industrialization, fast urbanization and commercialization of the society. The post office not only provides postal services of mail delivery, they are also engaged in providing other services like registration, and collection of token fees of vehicles and ammunition etc. There are 34 post offices in the district, all of them functioning. Moreover, the Pakistan Post Office Quetta provides services like (i) Fax money order (ii) Fax messages (iii) Urgent mail service (iv) Air express (v) International speed post. The General Post Office (G.P.O) is in Quetta and has links with all other post offices in the district. In remote areas, where it is not possible to open a post office at full scale, arrangements are made with a volunteer to act as part time post master. Such arrangements are made at 15 places in the district. They are paid rupees 435 per month for the services. There are also three agency post offices which work on the behalf of GPO. Thus the postal service network is operational in the entire district, though it may not be speedy in rural areas. There are a number of courier services available in the district (TCS, DHL etc). These services have greatly serviced the business community in particular.

Banking/Financial Institutions

Quetta is the financial centre of the province. There are 13 major banks in the district. The commercial banks are: Muslim Commercial Bank (14 Branches), Habib Bank Ltd. (18 Branches), National Bank of Pakistan (6), United Bank Ltd (5), Allied Bank Ltd and Askari Commercial Bank. In addition to the national commercial banks there are a number of other commercial banks like Bank of Punjab, the Bank of Serhad, Schon Bank, Prudential Bank and ANZ Grindlays Bank. Moreover, there is a net work of specialized credit institutions like; PICIC, IDBP, ADBP, ICP, SBFC, HBFC, NDFC, BEL, NIT etc. In addition, there are many national saving centres. They also provide financial services to the community. Money changing activities also take place in the open market. The Hundi system (parallel banking) is used by traders to transfer money to the trading parties in different countries. This system is more efficient, quicker and cheaper for those who remit money. It is widely believed that the quantum of financial services supplied through this system is much higher than through government controlled banks.

Electricity and Gas

Electricity is the most important source of energy in the district. Economic growth increases the demand for power supply. To gauge the economic development of a country, the criterion of per capita energy consumption is a good indicator. Electricity has multi-dimensional uses. It is used in the agricultural sector to run tube-wells. In the industrial sector it is vital for running machinery, and for households it facilitates life to a great extent. For households electricity is not only a source of light, but also a source of power for a range of appliances. Electricity is produced locally but is produced at Giddu. There are seven grid stations and one power house in the district. There are 152,364 electric connections, 1,094 are for the industrial sector, 1,624 are for the agriculture sector, 56,299 for commercial use, and 93,347 are for domestic consumers.

It has been observed that the number of domestic consumers is increasing rapidly in rural areas as compared to the number of industrial and commercial consumers. The agricultural connections (1,624) can be taken as tube well connections, because they do not have any alternate use. However, according to the Agricultural Statistics of Balochistan 1994/95, the number of electric tube wells in Quetta was 953 during 1994/95. The recent figures for the tube wells in the district indicate considerable electrification of the area.

According to the higher authorities of WAPDA, more than 99% of the population has been provided with electric connections. According to the official source, 90% of the rural/urban consumers are willing to pay their bills while 10% are reluctant to pay. The constraints faced by WAPDA in relation to the recovery of bills and to the administration of connections are:

1. Due to poor administration, WAPDA is unable to deliver its bills in time.
2. Some of the consumers are in habit of using illegal electricity.
3. The accumulated bills payment is very difficult for the consumers.

The length of the main gas pipe line is 1,227.265 Km. The length of the service line is 429.758 Km. Thus the total length comes to 1,657.023 Km. The total number of gas connections is 72,867. Out of them 66 are industrial, 1,613 are commercial and domestic connections are 71,188. These connections were provided up to 30 April1996.

Rest Houses

Quetta is the capital of Balochistan. Almost all federal and provincial government departments and financial institutions have their rest houses in the city. Some of the donor agencies who are involved in providing financial and technical assistance and are taking keen interest in the development of Balochistan have rest houses in the city as well. Moreover, Army officials and law enforcing agencies also have their rest houses.

Some of the rest houses worth mentioning are: 

1. Circuit House
2. Federal Lodge
3. Federal Bachelor Lodge
4. D.C Rest House at Hanna
5. Pakistan Railway Accounts Academy Rest House
6. NIPA Rest House
7. MPA Hostel
8. B&R Rest House

Moreover, there are 284 hotels and restaurants which provide lodging and boarding facilities. It is worth mentioning that due to a large number of hotels and restaurants the rents of them are very cheap as compared to other metropolitan cities like Lahore, Peshawar and Karachi.

GO/NGO/Private Enterprise, etc. involvement in Energy, Transport and Communications Development

 The federal government is involved in almost all the major economic infrastructure services particularly where large investment is needed. Provincial government also plays a dominant role particularly in road works. There is no role for NGOs in any of the economic infrastructure activities, including energy, transport, communication development. The private sector is also actively involved in the provision of certain economic infra-structural facilities, particularly in transport and in the provision of gas cylinders.

Conclusion and major Development Issues

Being the center of government and at the same time of commercial activities, it is not surprising that Quetta district has a fairly well developed economic infrastructure. It has direct road connections to most of the other districts, while national highways link the district with Sindh and Punjab. It has also road connections to Afghanistan and Iran. Rail links exist to the Afghan border, to Iran and to Sindh and Punjab.

Quetta has an international airport which is being used for regular flights to Karachi and Islamabad and to a number of places in the province. Recently PIA introduced a flight from and to Sharjah.

 The network for telecommunication is functioning well. The postal service is well developed but might be slower than desired. Courier services are amply available in Quetta city.

 According to WAPDA 90% of the population has access to electricity. As in other districts, WAPDA faces difficulties with recovering their bills.

The increasing demand for electricity is a concern. A new power station is under construction, which might address the gap between demand and supply, which results in supply of electricity with irregular voltage and frequent load shedding.

 Although, as stated above, the road network as such is relatively well developed, the traffic congestion, in particular in Quetta city, needs the urgent attention of the authorities. Many roads cannot sustain the pressure of traffic, leading to congestion and to environmental problems.

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