DERA GHAZI KHAN, Dec 6: District and tehsil nazims have developed a row over award of development projects and gone into litigation. Tehsil nazim Mahmood Qadir Leghari has obtained a stay from a court against the district government over award of contracts of 62 development schemes worth Rs140 million on the charge of violation of Section 54 of the Local Government Ordinance which empowered the TMA to execute development schemes of sewerage, provision of drinking water, construction and widening of roads in a tehsil.

Mr Leghari told Dawn on Wednesday that the district government was not eager to cooperate with the tehsil. He said he waited for seven months to develop understanding with the district government which even could not emerge in meetings of advisory committee. After lodging dissenting note to forum next to advisory committee, local government commission, he got stay.

He said there was no criterion to award contract.

Meanwhile, the district government, violating the stay order, awarded contract of 62 development schemes, even without adopting proper process as most junior officer sub-engineer Tariq Bughlani who has additional charge of SDO (roads) allegedly initiated the process. It may be noted that the executive engineer has gone on leave to avoid controversy.

District nazim Maqsood Leghari told newsmen here on Wednesday that the tehsil nazim was creating hurdle in the development work.

He claimed that the tehsil nazim initiated the project of construction and widening of road without inviting tenders. He maintained that in a meeting of the advisory committee, the tehsil nazim did not raise any objection to the development work while he himself admitted that he started work on road project without inviting tenders.

Sources alleged that Maqsood Leghari and his associates were also in link with the PPP through his self-exiled brother Mansoor.