SADIQABAD-Accumulated sewage in Mazhar Fareed Colony has not only been taking its toll on residents’ health but also calling the administration and local governments’ performance into question.
During a survey, residents told The Nation that resident of the locality are faced with sewage accumulation in almost every street of the colony. They said that it has not only been causing difficulties for residents but also giving rise to mosquitoes, flies and other pests in the area which, they said, has threatened outbreak of malaria, dengue and other insect-borne diseases. They said that people have to pass through dirty streets to offer prayers in mosques and similarly the schoolchildren who get their clothes dirty before reaching school. Besides, the constantly emitting stink from the filth has also made residents’ days and nights restless, they said. They regretted that they have submitted numerous complaints to the local bodies’ representatives but nothing could grab the high-ups’ attention to the grave situation. They said they had elected PML-N candidate Mian Bashir as councillor, adding he has been punishing them to elect him instead of mitigating their woes. Due to his negligence, the once model colony in Sadiqabad has been turned into a water pond, they charged.
Residents including Haji Khursheed Ahmed, Zubair Iqbal, Anwar, Shabbir Ahmed, Ali, Naseem and Rana Munir urged Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif to order the officials concerned to rehabilitate the sewer system in the colony.
Women education highlighted
The provision of education facilities to the women of Southern Punjab is top priority of the government for which it has allocated funds worth billions of rupees.
MNA and Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting Begum Parveen Masood Bhatti stated while addressing a cheque distribution ceremony at Government Sadiq College Women University in connection with Prime Minister’s Fee Reimbursement Scheme.
She claimed that in accordance with the scheme, about Rs2.5 billion has been reimbursed to students during the ongoing month. She said that the fee reimbursement programme hold an important role in the educational uplift of the Southern Punjab. “Fee of the students from South Punjab of MA, MSc, MPhil and PhD are being compensated by the government under the scheme, she added.
On the occasion, university VC Dr Talhat Afza said that 1,032 students of the university have been distributed fee reimbursement’s cheques worth Rs20 million.
She said that the university has launched MPhil programmes this year so that female students of the area could get higher education.
Faculty Dean and Focal Person Saeed Anwar along with faculty members and a large number of students attended the ceremony.