MANSEHRA: The Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) on Wednesday lit the Civil Hospital in Dasu, district headquarters of Upper Kohistan, by installing solar panels.

Deputy commissioner Tashfeen Haider inaugurated the facility during a special ceremony.

He said solar energy would help improve patient care at the hospital, the sole health facility in the district.

The DC said uninterrupted solar electricity would also be supplied to the offices and residential colony of the district health officer.

DC says initiative to improve patient care

Dasu hydropower project general manager Javed Akhtar, who was also in attendance, said the time was not far off when Upper Kohistan would become a developed region having all modern civic amenities.

Upper Kohistan, where work on over 9,000 megawatts Dasu hydropower project and Diamer-Basha dam is underway, doesn’t have electricity produced by Wapda.

The people get electric supply from micro-hydropower generators installed on streams.

ADP OKAYED: The Mansehra district council on Wednesday unanimously approved the Rs380 million annual development programme for the current financial year.

“Mansehra is among six districts in the province and the only in Hazara division, which received funds from the provincial government for good performance on development projects,” district nazim Sardar Said Ghulam told the house.

Council convener Murtaza Tanoli chaired the sitting.PTI member Shakila Rabbani complained that the women elected on reserved seats were being discriminated against by the local government during the distribution of development funds.

Malik Farooq of the PPP moved a resolution seeking district status for Tanawal, which was unanimously adopted by the house.

PML-N member Andleeb criticised the district and tehsil governments over ‘failure’ to execute a single drinking water scheme in the city and on its outskirts.

The nazim said Mansehra had executed more than 60 per cent of the approved development schemes during the last financial year and therefore, the provincial government had released funds to the local government for the current ADP.

DISTRICT STATUS HAILED: The Oghi tehsil council on Wednesday unanimously adopted a resolution praising the provincial government for granting the district’s status to the region.

The resolution was tabled by tehsil nazim Raja Bashir.

The house, which met with convener Qazi Zahidullah in the chair, also approved a resolution demanding the removal of Karori union council from the jurisdiction of the Darband police station.

Councillor Jamal Alvi demanded action against the tehsil municipal administration officials over payments to the contractors without completion of work on development projects.

Published in Dawn, February 1st, 2018