JHELUM: Residents of Pind Dadan Khan have pinned hopes on the expected visit of the Punjab chief minister for the provision of basic amenities such as water supply, health and education.
According to official sources in the Jhelum district administration, Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif is likely to visit the Pind Dadan Khan tehsil on Nov 10.
She is expected to inaugurate the recently completed first phase of the Jalalpur Irrigation Project and the dual carriageway, and to address students of a special education institution in Pind Dadan Khan.
The administration has also had a helipad paved on the campus of Government Albirioni College for helicopter landing.
Deputy Commissioner Jhelum Mir Reza Ozgen and District Police Officer Chaudhary Shafiq along with the SSP have been holding meetings with the administration and notable figures of PML-N to make arrangements for the visit.
The residents of Pind Dadan Khan have pointed out that the water supply system in the salinity-hit areas of the region of the Salt Range had been the biggest issue.
Flawed and poorly maintained water supply systems by the Public Health Engineering Department have been depriving them of drinkable water for months. Saqib, a resident of Khana village, said the locality was not getting water supply for a year due to incomplete work on the pipeline by the Public Health Engineering authorities.
They also pointed out a higher frequency of kidney and liver diseases among the population and demanded the establishment of a kidney-liver treatment centre with free dialysis facilities in the abandoned, underconstruction Trauma centre near Lillah town.
Malik Nayer Iqbal, a journalist, told Dawn that 1,700 kanals were acquired in 2003 for the establishment of a sub-campus of the University of Engineering Taxila in Pind Dadan Khan to promote high-tech education in this neglected tehsil, but no progress could be made after the passage of20 years.
He pointed out a shortage of health facilities and medical staff at THQ Hospital and demanded its upgradation with cardiac and kidney wards. The construction of the Chak Nizam bridge on the River Jhelum to link PD Khan with Malakwal and Mandi Bahauddin was also a popular demand of the public. He also pointed out the need for improvement in water supply schemes in the tehsil headquarters and remote villages.
They have urged the chief minister to announce a special package for the uplift of the tehsil, which is home to the world-famous salt mines of Khewra.