DERA GHAZI KHAN, Sept 14: Construction of a monumental gate at the College Chowk with MPA’s grant without prior approval from the Tehsil Municipal Administration, neglecting the public demand for establishing a water filtration plant in Faridabad, has created a rift among the TMA, the MPA and dwellers.

Ruling party MPA Lubna Munawar is spending her grant of Rs2 million for the construction of the gate. The work on it has been taken in hand without getting permission from the TMA, the Wapda and the highway department.

TMO Zubair said that a notice had been furnished to the MPA concerned for stopping work on the project as the construction required NOC from the TMA and other departments concerned.

However, despite getting the notice, the MPA has continued the work on the project.

A Wapda spokesman said the replacement of electricity poles to accommodate the construction of gate was more expensive than the project itself.

Inhabitants of Faridabad Colony, including Ghaffar Leghari, Jam Safdar, Rana Imran and Karim Bakhsh, said the utility of water filtration plant for dwellers was much more important than erecting the gate.

They said that the construction of gate would also bring about traffic jams.

MNA Ameena Jaafar Leghari said that every project should be executed in the light of the public demand and their need.

Muhammad Iqbal Saqib advocate, the brother-in-law of MPA Lubna Munawar, said the beautification of the city was also a part of the development.

He further said that millions of rupees had already been spent on the provision of basic civic facilities in the area.

Also a provincial PML office bearer, he claimed that there was no need for permission from the TMA as the gate was under-construction on the road in possession of the national highway.