LOWER DIR: The people of Talash here on Friday demanded of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and authorities of the communication and works department to take practical measures for resuming construction work on two key bridges at Kano Shamshi Khan and Nasafa.

Talking to mediapersons, the village elders complained that work on the bridges connecting their villages with the main Chakdara-Timergara road had been stopped for unknown reasons.

They said work was started on the Kano Shamshi Khan Bridge with a cost of Rs53.9 million and Nasafa Bridge Rs64.4 million. They said both the projects were tendered on Nov 15, 2017.

The elders said that the contractors had removed their machinery from the sites which had spread unrest among the local people. They said the government should immediately release funds for the projects so that they could be completed at the earliest.

They announced to march on foot to the DC office in Timergara if the construction work was not started within a month.

PROBE SOUGHT: Awami National Party central leader Mian Iftikhar Hussain on Friday demanded an impartial inquiry into the incident wherein a youth took out a pistol and pointed it towards him in Sakhakot area of Malakand.

Talking to mediapersons in Chakdara, the ANP leader confirmed that the incident occurred during a workers function in Sakhakot when he was talking about the murder of social activist Mohammad Zada Agrawal.

Mr Hussain said the party workers suddenly controlled the youth. He said he was later told that the youth was mentally ill. He said that the questions who brought that man to the crowd and who handed him over a loaded pistol should be answered.

He said the government and law enforcement agencies should conduct a complete and impartial inquiry into the incident.

ANTI-MEASLES DRIVE: Lower Dir district health officer Dr Irshad Rughani said on Friday that so far 112,000 children in the district had been vaccinated against measles and rubella.

Talking to mediapersons, he said that the department was ready to vaccinate 619,000 children. He said that health teams were visiting schools and houses to ensure success of the campaign.

Published in Dawn, November 20th, 2021