MANSEHRA: The Awami National Party has moved the Peshawar High Court seeking a major chunk from Tarbela dam royalty for the residents of Torghar district.

“The residents of Torghar have rendered huge sacrifices for Tarbela dam as their houses, land and even their ancestral graveyards were inundated by its reservoir but they still don’t have due share in dam royalty,” MPA Laiq Mohammad Khan told reporters in Oghi area on Monday.

Mr Laiq, who is an ANP MPA from Torghar, said the residents of the district, which was made a settled district from a tribal belt in 2011, lacked education, healthcare, roads and other basic facilities.

“We want our due share in Tarbela dam royalty being given to the province by the centre, so we approached the high court to claim our right,” he said.

The lawmaker, who is also the chairman of Torghar district development advisor committee, said the ANP government had declared Torghar a settled district to end the deprivation of the residents.

ANP leader says residents denied right despite sacrifices

“We have long been striving for the development of this highly backward district and the time is not far whenthis district would offer the best possible civic amenities to residents.

POLIO CASES: Provincial Emergency Operation Centre coordinator Abdul Basit Khan on Monday visited Torghar district following the emergence of seven polio cases in the recent weeks and sought the deputy commissioner’s help to handle the situation.

“I am here to tell you how harmful consequences your children aged five years and below can face if you don’t administer polio drops to them,” he told a group of parentsin Harnail union council in Judbah tehsil.

A team of EOC led by Mr Basit on the first day of the case response activity visited Torghar and sensitised government officials and parents to the situation.

The EOC coordinator told reporters in Judbah that over 1,193,550 children in 11 districts would get polio drops during the ongoing exercise, which also covered Hazara division’s eight regions.

“We have set up 5,212 polio teams and 285 supervising teams to be overseen by 162 provincial and federal monitors in all eleven districts,” he said.

Mr Basit said polio drops would be administered to 35,000 children in Torghar district.

Also in the day, the polio case response activity drive was launched in Mansehra and Torghar districts.

LIBRARY OPENED: Polish ambassador Piotr Opalisoki on Monday inaugurated a high-tech library in Kaghan Memorial School and said quality education was required for prosperity and development in current times.

“I am impressed to see a charity educational institution impart quality education to deserving students in this far-off area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa free of charge,” the envoy told the inaugural ceremony.

The library was established, furnished and equipped by the Poland Embassy in Islamabad.

Published in Dawn, November 19th, 2019