PHOTO: REUTERS
Project Concept-I (PC-I) for the hospitals have also been approved.
Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan told The Express Tribune that the government has decided to construct a new 100-bed hospital at a cost of Rs500 million at the entrance to the city near Chakri, for which 93 acres of government land has been allotted. The hospital will have an emergency section and operation theatre. Furthermore, a 300-bed hospital will also be built along the Ring Road near Rawat. At the third entrance near Kahuta, a 100-bed government hospital is also being built, while at the entry point of Kashmir Highway at Muree , a 150-bed hospital will be built in Sanatorium, the minister added.
For these four new hospitals, Sarwar said that he along with the members assembly Sadaqat Abbasi, Raja Saghir, Wasiq Qayyum and Haji Amjad were making efforts and hopefully these will start working in 2022-23.
The aviation minister said that the number of patients from Attock, Jhelum, Azad Kashmir, Murree, Taxila, Kot Sayedan, Abbottabad, and Hazara will be reduced by 50% while number of beds in the three allied hospitals will also be increased from 100 to 300.
The minister said that Rs1 billion funds will be released from Punjab government’s Annual Development Program and from the funds of the relevant members of assembly.
Anti-dengue teams harassment
The provincial government’s efforts against dengue received a blow as anti-dengue teams have complained that they are being harassed and have been assigned duties far from their hometowns which makes it difficult for them to reach the target stations on time.
The female sanitary patrol said that they have to travel to far-flung stations and they are also not given the two monthly entitled leaves even if they are sick.
They further said the patrol workers who make a ‘compromise’ are allowed to take leaves.
They demanded that the Rawalpindi commissioner and the Punjab health minister should summon all female patrol workers and hear their complaints.
They are paid up to Rs22, 000 but are not provided with any other allowance, they added.
The sanitary workers further said if they are late by 15 minutes to their relevant stations, they are marked absent and they still have to perform their duty and their salaries are deducted.
To ensure that the anti-dengue efforts are transparent and effective, they urged that lady sanitary patrol workers are deployed in their respective areas or in nearby areas. Moreover, they demanded that they should be provided with the mandatory two leaves in a month.
Construction work on dams
To resolve the issue of water supply in Rawalpindi district, the government has started work on construction of five dams.
The Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan on Saturday said that work has started on the construction of the Rs3.5 billion Daducha dam. The dam is expected to be completed in two years.
The construction of the Papin dam in union council Chak Beli has been approved by the government, he said.
In UC Chauntra, work on the construction of Mujahid dam has commenced. The dam is expected to be completed in 18 months. In UC Reka, Mohatta dam will be built.
The minister said work on a project to supply water from the Chhan dam to adjoining areas has begun. The project is expected to cost around Rs5 billion to complete.
Chhan dam will supply water to UC Church, Chak Jalaldin, Mohri Ghazan, Kotha Kalan, Morgah, Lakkhan, Dhaman Syedan, Adiala Road, Kaliyal, and Gulshanabad.
All five dams are expected to be completed by the end of 2023.
Chhan and Chirah dams are expected to be completed in 2022 and will help supply water around the clock to residents of the district apart from feeding the agricultural fields in the district.
The Punjab government has released initial tranches for all of these projects.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 2nd, 2020.
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