TOBA TEK SINGH: Two sanitation workers employed by a private contractor of the Jhang Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) died of asphyxiation on Friday after falling into a manhole during a sewer line cleaning operation.
According to Rescue 1122 officials, the incident occurred near Tanga Adda on Farooq-e-Azam Road, where the workers were engaged in routine sewer cleaning.
They say that during the cleaning operation two workers, identified asKashif Ali, 24, a resident of Lahore, and Abid Ali, 26, a resident of Habibabad, Okara, fell into a manhole.
On being informed of the incident, a Rescue 1122 team reached the spot and pulled out both workers from the manhole, but they had already died due to the asphyxiation inside the manhole. Jhang Wasa Managing Director Syed Saulat Raza ordered an inquiry into the incident.
SUCCUMB TO BURNS: A man and his wife, who had suffered critical burns in a fire erupting in a house due to gas leakage from the compressor of an air conditioner, succumbed to their burns in Allied Hospital on Thursday night.
In the fire incident occurring in Maqsoodabad locality on Nawabanwala Road in Faisalabad on Wednesday, total seven persons belonging to the same extended family had suffered burns.The deceased and injured persons were participating in Qul ceremony of a relative.The deceased were identified as Adnan (35) and is wife Samra Bibi (29), who expired during treatment in the hospital.The condition of five others, including two children, was also stated to be serious.
WOMEN INJURED: Two women were critically wounded after a dilapidated wall of a house collapsed on them at Chak 112/10R in Jahanian tehsel of Khanewal district on Friday.
A Rescue 1122 teams called to the scene removed the rubble and pulled out the injured women -- Shaista Amanat (32) and Shumaila Imtiaz (30).
They were shifted to Jahanian THQ Hospital.
CONTRACT DELAYED: Dozens of officials recruited in 2017 under the New Management Structure (NMS) policy have urged Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz take notice of the prolonged delay in renewal of their service contracts and resolve the issue.
They told reporters on Friday that they were appointed through the Punjab Health Project Management Unit (PHPMU) and were serving in the district and tehsil headquarters hospitals
in the province. They are working as administrative officers, biomedical engineers, besides serving as IT, procurement, logistics, audit, and quality assurance officers.
Sources say these professionals were inducted to modernise hospital administration, improve procurement systems, strengthen financial oversight, and ensure quality healthcare delivery.
Over the past nine years, these officials not only contributed to better management of hospitals, but they also received training from the Management and Professional Development Department (MPDD).
However, there is a lot of uncertainty regarding continuation of their jobs following reports that in the revised NMS policy these posts may be abolish, rendering these trained professionals unemployed.
These professional apprehend that such a move could not only affect them, but also their families depending on them. It may also also weaken the administrative structures in the public sector hospitals and disrupt ongoing healthcare reforms, they argue.
District health officials say the matter of contract renewal for PHPMU officials was currently under consideration at the provincial level.
Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2026