MANSEHRA: Tobacco growers on Friday demanded of the government to declare Baffa-Pakhal a calamity-hit tehsil after the destruction of their crops by a hailstorm.

“We [tobacco farmers] have suffered huge losses as our standing crops over hundreds of acres of land were destroyed by the recent hailstorm, which was coupled with the downpour, so we want the government to immediate grant our tehsil the calamity-hit status and announce financial assistance for us,” Anjuman-i-Kashtkaraan Baffa-Pakhal president Rustam Khan told reporters after visiting the hailstorm-affected areas.

Mr Khan said that the growers were in distress as they’re still reeling from the aftermath of last year’s floods.

He warned that if the government didn’t support growers, tobacco won’t be grown in the region, badly hitting the collection of direct and indirect taxes.

“We will meet the deputy commissioner to update him about our misery and demand a damage assessment survey for our compensation,” he said.

Growers complain tobacco crops destroyed

Mr Khan said the compensation was imperative to enable growers to resume tobacco cultivation.

ELECTION STRATEGY: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader retired Captain Mohammad Safdar on Friday said his party’s leadership, including provincial president Amir Muqam, had finalised the party’s strategy for next elections during a meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

He told reporters here that the PML-N was united in the province and would contest elections under the leadership of its supremo and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

Mr Safdar said his was the strongest party in the province and it would sweep the next polls to form the government.

“Our leader Nawaz Sharif will return from abroad to lead our election campaign,” he said.

The PML-N leader said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led government had approved mega development projects for Hazara division and sanctioned funds for them.

He said the Mansehra-Muzaffarabad Motorway and Mansehra Airport projects promised the region’s socioeconomic development.

Mr Safdar said that Hazara division was a stronghold of the PML-N, which would sweep next elections there and other parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Federal parliamentary secretary and MNA Mohammad Sajjad Awan, who was also present on the occasion, said the PML-N leadership held a separate meeting and discussed development projects for KP in the next fiscal year.

Published in Dawn, June 17th, 2023