MITHI, Sept 17: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has said that a comprehensive development package for Tharparkar district is being prepared to ameliorate sufferings of its people.

Addressing a public gathering at the Circuit House here on Friday, he said that a team of Planning Commission, which had visited Tharparkar to identify development projects for the arid region, was finalizing the package and it would be announced soon.

Highlighting salient features of the package, Mr Aziz said that as lack of water was the core issue of Thar, small dams for storage of rainwater would be constructed, tube-wells installed and the Diplo town provided canal water through pipeline.

He announced that the federal and provincial governments would spend one billion rupees every year on the uplift of Thar in addition to other allocations. Thar had remained ignored in the past but now a good number of reputed companies and philanthropists were taking interest in doing welfare work in the backward area, he said.

Giving examples, he said, a company dealing in mineral water had announced that it would install a plant here, which was expected to provide 10,000 gallons of water to 20,000 people. Another company had expressed willingness to install 150 water pumps here, the prime minister added.

Responding to the Sindh chief minister's appeal to provide wheat at half price to the residents of Thar which was facing a drought-like situation, Mr Aziz said that measures in this regard would be taken on a priority basis to avert food shortage in the area.

For better healthcare facilities in the area, he announced that the Civil Hospital Mithi would be upgraded, the number of basic health units would be increased, doctors and medicines provided and 600 vials of anti-snake bite serum per month supplied to its hospitals by the National Institute of Health, Islamabad.

A branch of the Khushhali Bank in Mithi would start functioning by October to provide loan up to Rs30,000 to the people to enable them to earn livelihood through small business, the premier said.

Having huge deposits of coal and granite, Thar had great potential for development, hence a network of metalled roads was being laid and a coal-fired power plant was expected to start functioning in the near future, he said and added that the project would provide jobs to the local people.

Mr Aziz said that Wapda had been directed to provide electricity to all the towns and villages of Thar and work in this regard was in progress. The facilities of wireless and mobile telephones would be provided to Mithi and Chhachhro, he added.

Mr Aziz thanked the people of Tharparkar for electing him with a heavy mandate in the last by-election and pledged that he would continue to work not only for the development of Tharparkar but the entire country.

He said that entire Pakistan was his constituency and he would strive hard for making it an economically sound and progressive country. He appealed to the Tharis to vote for Arbab Zakaullah in the ensuing by- election.

Earlier, speaking at the public gathering, Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim said that the Thar development package had probably been completed by the Planning Commission, however, technical experts were busy finalizing modalities to ensure that no unnecessary project was included in the huge package.

Though the premier had vacated the National Assembly seat of Thar and retained the Attock seat, he would continue to serve the Tharis, Dr Arbab said. He said that Mr Aziz was a man of international reputation and he wanted to do something meaningful for the downtrodden. Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad, Mr Zakaullah, Ali Nawaz Mahar and others were present at the gathering.