The residents of Mingora seem disappointed with the performance of ruling parties in the centre as well as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

They say that both PML-N, the ruling party in the centre, and PTI, which leads a coalition government in the province, have miserably failed to address the real issues of people during the last three years.

The residents of Mingora, the financial hub of Swat, say that poor sanitation, unavailability of clean drinking water, dilapidated roads, garbage dumps and mismanaged traffic system have made their life miserable.

They say that they voted for PTI in the 2013 general elections expecting it to bring real change in the area. However, the ruling party failed to meet their expectations. They say that PK-80 constituency, which has over 700,000 population and important areas like Mingora, is consisted of 17 union councils but the elected representative and provincial government has totally ignored it.

Mohammad Amin, who was elected as MPA in the 2002 elections from the same constituency, says that PK-80 is urban area of the district and one of the major cities of the province.

“Thousands of people from the rural areas come here for jobs, business, education and treatment owing to which the area has more issues than other constituencies,” he says. He adds that neither provincial government nor federal government has paid attention to the problems of the people of the constituency during the last three years.

“Owing to negligence of government, Mingora has become a hub of problems,” alleges Mr Amin. He says that traffic in the city is out of control while Saidu Teaching Hospital, which caters to the needs of people of entire Malakand division, has received no funds from the government.

The former MPA says that unavailability of the drinking water is another serious for the residents of the constituency. He alleges that the incumbent MPA remains silent in the provincial assembly.

The local residents say that two streams in the area have turned into garbage dumping sites. “Sewerage lines in Mingora have completely damaged. What can we expect from this government as TMA is throwing garbage in streams and the Swat River? It means that institutions are violating laws,” said Abdul Wahab, a resident of Mingora.

The local people also question the performance federal government, saying Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during his visit to Swat on November 14, 2015 announced a road project from Chakdara to Kalam but it also proved just an announcement.

Wajid Ali Khan, a former provincial minister, says that the ruling party got votes in the name of ‘change’ but it did nothing to bring a change.

“The failure of the government can be judged by the fact that it could utilised all funds during the last three years. How a government will initiate development projects if it can’t utilise its full budget,” he questions.

He says that no mega project has been launched in Swat by the government.

Dr Khalid Mehmood, a local leader of PkMAP, says that majority of the areas in the province lack basic facilities. “The elected representative has failed to provide basic health facilities to people. Even construction of a new teaching hospital has been stopped during the present government,” he adds.

Dr Khalid says that PTI has failed to devolve powers to the local governments.

The local people also criticise PTI for not honouring its promise to set up sports facilities and playgrounds in every district of the province.

“We were happy that PTI would establish new sports facilities and playgrounds in our area but it ignored even the existing facilities. Where are the stadiums, they had claimed to establish in every union council? Our lone stadium, set up some 20 years ago, is in ruins but the PTI government is doing nothing for its rehabilitation,” said Faisal Khan, a resident of Saidu Sharif.

The residents of the area also criticise district government, saying it has failed to initiate any major project in PK-80.

However, district nazim Mohmmad Ali Shah says that no major project could be initiated by the district government as provincial government released only 50 per cent of the previous budget and 20 per cent of current budget to it.

“The provincial government has cut 75 per cent budget of the village councils and 50 per cent budget of tehsil and district councils. It shows that provincial government is not serious to devolve power to grassroots level,” adds the nazim. Ikram Khan, the tehsil nazim, says that besides their own budget of over Rs130 million for TMA Mingora, the USAID has also allocated Rs1 billion for the city.

“Half of the Rs1 billion budget has been allocated for supply of drinking water. The rehabilitation of all the tubewells will be started once the survey is completed,” he says.

However, Fazal Hakim Khan, the incumbent MPA, claims that he has approved a number of projects for his constituency. “Over Rs70 million has been allocated for reconstruction of jail in Saidu Sharif. Rs68 million has been approved for construction of the teaching hospital. We have opened a dental block in the hospital and soon surgical unit will start working at the casualty department. We have employed hundreds of youth on merit,” he says.

The MPA says that work on a new parking area along Mingora stream will be started soon that will resolve traffic issues in the city to great extent.

He says that soon Water and Sanitation Agency will be set up in Mingora to resolve the issue of shortage of clean drinking water in the constituency.

Published in Dawn January 22nd, 2017