HARIPUR: The only access road to the District Headquarters Hospital, Haripur, has long been in dilapidated condition stressing out their users, especially patients.

The residents told Dawn that their repeated requests to the relevant authorities for repairing the one and half kilometers long Dheenda Road during the last one year had fallen on deaf ears.

They said the road was the only land route to the DHQ Hospital, many educational institutions, over half a dozen villages and the Afghan refugee camp.

Residents, especially patients, complain of inconvenience

The residents the road from Chohar Chowk to DHQ Hospital’s entrance was heavily potholed, which was often temporarily repaired by the authorities but got back in bad shape even after a light rain.

They said the patients traveling to the hospital for emergency treatment suffered the most from the bumpy ride on the road.

Driver of a private ambulance Nadeem complained that the road discomforted patients with heart problem and head, bone and other injuries besides complicating their condition.

He said most ambulances couldn’t withstand knocks and shocks to the misery of emergency patients.

Irfan, a resident of Kalas village, regretted that the local MPA, who was the communication and works minister, had turned a blind eye to the road’s dilapidated condition. He said the irrigation channel carrying water to adjoining villages remained choked and thus, causing water to flood the road.

When contacted, medical superintendent of the DHQ Hospital Dr Saifullah Khalid said he had written to the C&W department many times for the road’s repair but to no avail.

He said Rs100 million funds had been approved for fixing the hospital’s faulty sewerage system but work on it didn’t begin due to delay in the release of funds.

The C&W department officials said Rs90 million had been approved for repairing the road, which would begin soon.

The district council recently adopted a resolution seeking immediate repair of the Dheenda Road to the relief of the residents, especially patients.

BOY COMMITS SUICIDE: A teenage boy committed suicide in a remote village of Khanpur tehsil here on Thursday.

The police said the boy’s father insisted his son, Umar Ali, 17, had been upset for some days for unidentified reasons. They said the boy’s body was found hanging from a tree in a forest area by his family.

The police said they had registered a case before starting investigation.

ACCIDENT CLAIMS LIFE: A teenage boy was killed after being run over by a speeding passenger bus in the Hattar Industrial Estate here on Thursday.

The police said Mohammad Idrees, a 15-year-old resident of Sheeni Maira area, died instantly after being hit by the bus carrying industrial workers as he was going to the market on foot.

They said the boy had suffered a head injury. The boy’s father refused to lodge a complaint with the police after forgiving the driver.

Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2018