Rs1.32b approved for Mansehra roads

MANSEHRA: Prime Minister Imran Khan has approved an amount of Rs1.32 billion for re-carpeting the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad road and the Mansehra-Chaterplain section of the Karakoram Highway, said a lawmaker on Friday.

“The prime minister wants to promote tourism in the Hazara division. To attract foreign tourists, he has directed re-carpeting of two major arteries leading to natural destinations in parts of Mansehra district,” Member National Assembly Salah Mohammad Khan Swati, who is also the federal parliamentary secretary water resources, said at a gathering in Chaterplain. The former opposition leader in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly, Shahzada Gustasib Khan, also spoke on the occasion.

Swati said that the prime minister not only sanctioned the money but also issued directives to the National Highway Authority for re-carpeting of both arteries in his meeting with lawmakers from Hazara in the federal capital.

“The prime minister has agreed to establish a medical college and a women university in the district and the work on these mega projects would be started soon,” said Swati.

Dodial residents seek school upgradation

The people of Dodial area have threatened to take to streets if the only girls high school was not upgraded to higher secondary level. “On competition of matriculation, most of the girl quit education as there is no college and higher secondary school for them in the area,” Mazhar Bashir, a local told reporters on Friday.

Flanked by a group of people from Dodial, Bashir said that Dodial town was one of the pre-partition settlements at Karakoram Highway but was without any college. “We have already met local lawmakers and the Education Department’s high-ups but to no avail,” Bashir said. He said though the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government had declared education emergency, the girls were facing problems in pursuing their education. Also in the day, a group of women teachers told reporters that offices of female education department were situated in an inaccessible area, causing trouble to them. “We have already taken this issue up with local lawmakers and Education Department but no action was taken,” said a teacher.