MANSEHRA:PakistanMuslimLeague-Nawaz(PMLN) leader retired Captain Mohammad Safdar on Tuesday said the federal government had approved Rs4.5 billion funds for supplying natural gas to several areas here.

`Our [PML-N] government aims to ensure natural gas`s supply to parts of Mansehra district that are still without it, so it has approved Rs4.5 billion for the purpose,` Mr Safdar told reporters in Oghi tehsil here.

Accompanied by the party`s local office-bearers, the PML-N leader said that a survey was under way for the proposed road to connect Oghi and Tanawal with the Hazara Expressway.

`The government has approved Rs50 million for the survey of this mega road project, which will significantly reduce the distance between Oghi and Mansehra as a tunnel in the Susal Gali area is also one of the main features of this project,` he said.

The PML-N leader said that the construction of Asia`s largest grid station in the Tanawal area was in progress at an estimated cost of Rs100 billion.

`Once this energy project is over, around 5,000 people will get jobs,` he said.

Mr Safdar said a healthcare facility would be constructed in Tanawal to cater to the residents with an allocation of Rs450 million.

`Our previous government had approved the construction of the Manchora Dam in Oghi to irrigate barren agricultural land and meet local electricity needs, but the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf MPA from Torghar, Laig Mohammad Khan, obtained a stay order from a local court against it, causing work to stall,` he said.

The PML-N leader said that his father-in-law and PML-N president Nawaz Sharif didn`t lose the Feb 8, 2024, general elections in Mansehra but was actually deprived of the NA-15 seat through a `conspiracy.

`Those behind that intrigue deprived the entire Hazara division, especially Mansehra district, of prosperity and development,` he said.