Chamhad union council facing lack of basic facilities

ABBOTTABAD: Chamhad union council is an underdeveloped area in terms of basic facilities, a survey conducted by The News showed.
Though Deputy Speaker National Assembly Murtaza Javed Abbasi and provincial Minister for Food Qalandar Khan Lodhi have been elected from the constituency that includes Chamhad union council, a population of more than 17,000 in the area has been facing shortage of basic health and education facilities.
The entire union council is lacking facilities like drinking water, infrastructure, public transport, qualified health staff and education, particularly among womenfolk. The locals have no option but to hire a jeep costing almost Rs5,000 per trip in case of an emergency and shifting of patients to hospitals in Abbottabad.
The union council has a single basic health unit (BHU) at Ghori village, a place far away from the populated areas like Baghati, Bhai Nora, Kasaki and Chamhad. Patients have to travel long distances to reach the lone government health facility.
During a recent visit to the BHU, it was observed that there was no medical officer for the last several months after resignation of Dr Osama Shabbir.
A medical technician, Hammad Iqbal, is providing emergency cover to the patients. The female medical technician and lady health worker don’t spend much time at the BHU as they have to adjust their arrival and departure with a school van that is the the only transport facility available to them. They have to travel from Abbottabad daily spending more than two hours on their way.
Medical Technician Hammad Iqbal told this correspondent that the BHU had no diagnostic facility except for diabetes and pregnancy testing, and there is a limited quantity of medicines.
He said that 587 patients, including 356 women, were registered in October 2015 in the out-patients department. He said they were able to provide only first-aid to patients while serious cases were referred to Abbottabad and Haripur.
The sad aspect of the scenario is that there is no mother and child healthcare facility in the entire union council and pregnant women face serious problems while being shifted to the city for treatment.
A lady councillor, Shabnam Bibi, said several patients had died in maternity cases in Chamhad area. She said the location of the BHU was not appropriate as it wasn’t located in a central area.
The state of education is also discouraging as there is no girls’ high school and have to stop their education after passing class VIII examination.
Two middle schools are located at Bhooraj and Chamak Mera, the areas that are not easily accessible for students, especially in rains and bad weather. Teachers of the schools say that most of the female students fail to receive education after middle class and this is why local women teachers are not available.
When contacted, District Education Officer Samina Altaf said two middle schools and 13 primary schools existed in the Chamhad.
“There is no high school for girls, and efforts are being made but the problem is the availability of suitable land for the purpose,” she added.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif once remained MNA from NA-18, and he had assured his voters that he would turn the constituency into Paris, the capital of France. Predicatbly, he forgot his promise after a while.