BAHAWALPUR: The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has again suspended the flight operation from Karachi to Bahawalpur and back.

According to PIA local airport manager Mansoor Lodhi, the flight operation has been stopped owing to surge in the Covid-19 cases across the country.

He told Dawn that in pursuance of the cancellation of the PIA schedule, the flights operating twice a week on Karachi-Bahawalpur route on Monday and Thursday would remain suspended till the schedule was reviewed by the competent authority.

Since the outbreak of coronavirus in February last year, the local airport had been closed to the PIA flights to and from Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore. However, the PIA on public demand last month resumed the flights twice a week to Karachi under Covid-19 SOPs.

The business community has demanded that the PIA resume the flight operations not only for Karachi but also for Islamabad and Lahore.

VACCINATION CENTRES: As many as 44 Covid-19 vaccination centres have been established in the Bahawalpur division.

This was stated by Divisional Commissioner Zafar Iqbal at a meeting he chaired here on Tuesday.

According to the commissioner, Bahawalpur has 26 centres, Bahawalnagar 10 and Rahim Yar Khan 8.

He directed to gear up the vaccination campaign in the districts and strictly observe the SOPs.

PASSES AWAY: Folk singer Nawab Begum, mother of veteran folk singer Gulbahar Bano, died at her native town of Khanqah Sharif, about 20km away from here, on Monday. She was about 75.

The late Nawab Begum, mother of five daughters and three sons, was a folk singer of yesteryears and mostly sang at the late Nawab’s palaces and shrines of Sufi saints besides the houses of feudal lords in Bahawalpur and the vast areas of Kahrore Pucca and Lodhran and earned reputation in the Seraiki belt of the province.

She faced financial problems particularly after her eldest daughter Gubahar Bano said goodbye to singing a few years ago due to her illness.

Nawab Begum who originally belonged to Kahrore Pucca but later on settled at Khanqah Sharif near the city, was stated to be facing multiple health problems.

Her younger son Ayyaz said her mother had requested the Punjab government for financial assistance which was denied to her.

Published in Dawn, May 19th, 2021