BATTAGRAM: Residents expressed frustration with the poor performance of the district administration during a khuli kutchery held here on Tuesday.

Hazara division commissioner Syed Zaheerul Islam, Battagram deputy commissioner Asif Ali Khan and other officials attended the session held at the Government Centennial Model High School, Battagram.

The residents highlighted various problems, including prolonged power outages lasting up to 20 hours, which severely impact their life. They also complained about inadequate healthcare, citing medicine shortages and poor cleanliness at the District Headquarters Hospital.

Limited educational opportunities were another concern, with the Hazara University campus having limited departments, hindering students’ educational prospects.

Hazara commissioner promises efforts to resolve issues at khuli kutchery

Rampant drug abuse, particularly the widespread consumption of ice drug among youth, was also a major concern.

Shaukat Hayat, chairman Chapargram village council, complained that lack of a bypass in Battagram Bazaar caused traffic congestion. He claimed that transformers were stolen from almost every village council, but the police failed to arrest the thieves. Similarly, he said ice drug use was rampant in the district, and youth were consuming it without fear.

Mr Hayat said construction of a playground was needed to facilitate youth and encourage sports activities.

The other participants highlighted that there was no regular cleanliness mechanism from the tehsil municipal administration staff, while streets were filled with garbage and other waste. They complained Jatial girls’ school had been closed due to a lack of teachers.

Adil Khan from Shamlai area said the basic health unit was facing medicine shortages.

Another participant, Syed Momin Shah Haideri, said the Hazara University’s Battagram campus had only IT, English and zoology classes, and other departments should be opened to facilitate students.

He emphasised the need for constructing a dumping site for waste disposal as people are throwing waste into the Nendhyar River, polluting its clean fresh water. He highlighted that a hydropower project established in Batamori area by Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organisation three years ago was still not operational. He alleged officers in the government offices humiliated poor people, while those with influence were treated well.

Maulana Khurshed Ahmed of JUI-F said the government was passing a high-voltage line from the Allai Khwar power project to the national grid through their fields without their consent. Abdul Ghaffar Deshani, the traders’ union president, said traders in the Bazaar area were paying 100 per cent commercial electricity bills but were not getting power. He asked the commissioner Hazara to provide women staff in the passport office.

Mr Deshani also claimed the sewerage line in the town was in dilapidated condition, with hotels, residential quarters and others putting their waste into the Nendhyar River, polluting it.

Samiullah Khan, a social activist, said there was no cleanliness in the DHQ Hospital. “The hospital sweeper is acting as a ward boy, and the ward boy is working as a doctor, while the doctor is working in a private clinic.”

Ghulamullah, another resident, said the district administration had failed to ensure service delivery by various departments.

Roshan Khan, a hotelier, said solar lights installed in the main bazaar are out of order. “Similarly, the water filtration plant is also not operational.”

Commissioner Hazara Syed Zaheerul Islam told the participants that in a vibrant society, the public made their policymakers and service providers accountable, and he was there to check where his team was standing on the ground.

He said they would resolve public issues, and that he would ask the DIG Hazara to soon visit Battagram and address people’s grievances regarding the law and order situation and rampant consumption of drugs.

Published in Dawn, January 8th, 2025