KOHAT: Kohat city mayor Qari Sher Zaman and local elders have demanded early repair of a bridge over a stream connecting 24 villages with the urban centre as its foundations have been weakened by floods over the years, posing serious threat to lives of motorists.

Talking to reporters, the city mayor accompanied by elders, including Shakir Bangash, Sardar Daud, Malik Tahir Bangash and others, resented that the communication and works department and former lawmakers had been ignoring their repeated warnings over the dilapidated condition of the bridge. They said the communication and works department officials were taking the plea that they had no money to carry out the repairs on the bridge.

Mr Zaman and elders said the authorities should use the oil and gas royalty funds for rehabilitating the bridge, which they claimed were lying in the account of the deputy commissioner.

They lamented that former MNA Shehryar Afridi had kept a criminal mum over the matter. They pointed out that the bridge was constructed 35 years ago, and more than 80,0000 people of several villages was dependent on it to travel to and from the Kohat city.

They regretted they had brought the matter into the notice of former lawmakers of Pakistan Tehreek-Insaf, including Shehryar Afridi, for more than a decade, but to no avail

SOLAR POWER: The administration of the Liaquat Memorial Women’s Hospital, after getting disappointed by the government for not providing a separate feeder for more than a decade for smooth functioning of the facility, has put all the important wards and operation theatres on solar power through public donations.

Medical superintendent Dr Hashim Bokhari said the hospital had two electricity lines from the Cantonment and OTS Road, but most of the time supply from both remained suspended due to loadshedding.

He said provision of emergency treatment to patients was often disrupted due to power breakdowns, and often the doctors and paramedics had to use flashlights and mobile phones to operate upon patients.

He said operation theatre, gynaecology and children wards, labour room, nursery, emergency and OPD had been put on solar power. He said the hospital also had a huge diesel-run generator, whose expenditures were borne by philanthropists

Dr Bokhari said installation of a separate feeder worth Rs12 million was part of the new building of the hospital, work on whose construction was inaugurated at a cost of Rs1.2 billion by then chief minister Pervez Khattak in March 2018, but further progress on the project was halted due to lack of funds.

Published in Dawn, Aug 5th, 2023