CHITRAL: ‘Non-availability’ of land seems to have put the establishment of a 250-bed hospital in Chitral announced by the prime minister in September last year has put the project in jeopardy.

A source in the health department of the province told Dawn requesting anonymity that the federal government had asked the province to provide the required 75 acres of land for the construction of the hospital in Chitral, but the latter rejected the request on the grounds of ‘unavailability’ of the land.

He said the provincial government had demanded a hefty amount of Rs320 million from the federal government for the purchase of the land which was not accepted by the centre as per criterion of the PM Health Programme it is the responsibility of the province concerned to provide the land for the purpose.

PTI district president Abdul Latif also insisted that there was no land in the required quantity available in Chitral.

Prime minister had announced to build a 250-bed hospital in the district

He, however, said that thousands of acres of state land was available in the plateau of Kagh Lusht in upper Chitral, which the provincial government would provide free of cost if the federal government agreed to it.

District nazim Maghfirat Shah said it would be unfortunate for the people of Chitral if the modern hospital funded by the federal government was shifted to any other province. He said a tertiary healthcare facility on modern lines was the dire need of the district due to its geographical location.

“The severity of the problem could be gauged from the fact that even for CT scan, the patients are sent to Peshawar,” he said, and added that 50 per cent of the patients referred to Peshawar died on the way to hospital.

“During the winter season, the mobilisation from Chitral becomes even more difficult due to heavy snowfall, and all this necessitates for a modern hospital in the district,” he said.

Mr Shah appealed to the prime minister for granting the required amount of money for the purchase of land keeping in view the gravity of the problem faced by the people of Chitral in the health sector.

MNA from Chitral, Shahzada Iftikharuddin, told Dawn that in the meeting of the standing committee on planning, development and reforms on April 5, the matter of provision of land for the hospital in Chitral was discussed, after which the committee strongly recommended for inclusion of the cost of land in the PC-I of the project.

The lawmaker expressed the hope that the federal government would not disappoint the people of Chitral keeping in view the urgency of the matter.

Published in Dawn, April 10th, 2017