GUJRAT, Feb 3: Kunjah town lacks basic amenities such as clean drinking water.

The town, 12 kilometres from the Gujrat city, is home to 50,000 people. Kunjah was named after a Hindu raja, Kanjpal, who ruled the area centuries ago.

Kunjah, the ancestral village of Major Shabir Sharif, a recipient of the highest military award, Nishan-i-Haider, needs the attention of the authorities. Maj Sharif's younger brother Lt-Gen Raheel Sharif is the Gujranwala corps commander.

Kunjah has the distinction to elect former chief minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi for six consecutive times from 1985 to 2002, and in 2008 Chaudhry Moonis Elahi, the son of Pervaiz Elahi, claimed the seat.

The Pakistan People's Party equally disappointed the residents though its candidate in the 2008 elections, Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, got a thumping majority for the National Assembly seat, NA-105, from the town.

The city is the birthplace of famous Punjabi poet and literary critic Sharif Kunjahi, Anwar Masood, know for his comic poetry, and Ghanimat Kunjahi.

Despite fielding heavyweights to national politics, the town has not got any major project.

Its streets are filthy as the sewerage pipelines are broken, and contaminated water is supplied to houses.

Mr Mukhtar, who is defence minister, inaugurated a water filtration plant in 2010 to benefit the population. The plant which is adjacent to the Government Girls' Elementary School has become a dumping point of filth for the residents. The Kunjah Tehsil Municipal Administration has failed to take notice of the deteriorating civic infrastructure. The residents have demanded the provision of potable water and fixing of sewerage pipelines.