MARDAN: Neck and neck contest is expected between candidates of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf in the by-election in NA-22 Mardan constituency, which is scheduled to be held on Sunday (tomorrow).

According to relevant officials of the Election Commission of Pakistan (Mardan office), four candidates are contesting the by-polls in NA-22 constituency. They include PDM’s Maulana Mohammad Qasim from Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan, Abdul Wasey of Jamaat-i-Islami and independent candidate Mohammad Sarwar.

The officials said that the total number of registered voters in NA-22 was 471,000 that included 263,000 male and 208,000 female voters. The constituency comprised most of the areas of Takhtbai tehsil and some localities of Katlang tehsil.

The NA-22 seat had fallen vacant after resignation by PTI lawmaker Ali Mohammad Khan.

Political observers say though four candidates are contesting the elections in NA-22 a tough contest is expected between PDM candidate Maulana Mohammad Qasim and PTI candidate Imran Khan.

The central leaders of both PDM and PTI held big power shows in Takhtbai on Oct 12 and Oct 13, respectively.

PUNJAB LG ACADEMY TEAM: A delegation of Punjab Local Government Academy, Lalamusa, visited the head office of Water and Sanitation Services Company (WSSC), Mardan, and Integrated Resource Recovery Centre (IRRC) here on Friday.

The delegation included municipal officers of Punjab Local Government.

WSSC chief executive officer engineer Amir Khan briefed the delegates on the company’s operations and conversion of organic waste into organic fertilisers besides innovative techniques used in the sanitation sector.

Speaking on the occasion, Amir Khan said their mission was to make Mardan a model city in terms of cleanliness. He said IRRC was the only such facility established in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with the financial support of Norwegian Church Aid.

He said that under IRRC system five tonnes of kitchen waste was converted into organic fertilisers on a daily basis.

On this occasion, Punjab Local Government Academy director Najeeb Aslam said IRRC was an excellent system to decrease environmental pollution and they would take full advantage of IRRC facility in research and technical fields.

Published in Dawn, October 15th, 2022