December 23, 2006	Saturday	Zilhaj 01, 1427

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).

BAHAWALPUR, Dec 22: Land erosion poses a serious threat to historic Chachran Sharif and its nearby areas like Shahr Farid, Pahoran, Hyderabad, Faizabad. According to inhabitants, Sindh river has already devoured lakhs of acres of agricultural land and orchards. Now the railway station of Chachran Sharif — birthplace of great sufi poet Khwaja Ghulam Farid - is on the verge of destruction.

It is feared if the river erosion continues at the same speed, the day is not far when water will sweep away boundaries of the town.

During the flood season, water has badly damaged spurs after a spate in the river. Officials of the irrigation department claim they have reinforced the spurs but land erosion is going on. There has been a break in land erosion after the flood season. But the process has restarted after a spate in the river, creating a panic among locals.

Public circles have expressed concern over the damage to the spurs built with crores of rupees. They accuse local irrigation officials of being negligent. They say if the government doesn’t take prompt action in this respect, Chachran Sharif will be wiped out.

According to sources, the department after a study has prepared a model of a new spur but it has no funds for its construction.

MEETING: District nazim Tariq Cheema told a meeting of the district council on Friday that the government through a recent notification had doubled annual allocation of Rs100,000 for each UC for village electrification in their respective areas. He said Bahawalpur would be made a model district.