‘Shehbaz speed’ enthralls Pindi residents

The residents of Rawalpindi have praised the announcements of new development projects by PML-N President Mian Shehbaz Sharif at the Jan 27 Liaquat Bagh rally.

The former premier, while addressing the party workers ahead of the Feb 8 elections, had announced to improve travel facilities by introducing the Blue Train project and electric vehicles, solving water and gas problems, completing the Ring Road project, and raising Rawalpindi on a par with Lahore.

The PML-N stalwart told his workers that if voted into power, the party would increase water supply from Rawal Dam and Khanpur Dam, upgrade the Sui Gas network and complete the Rawalpindi Ring Road project.

Apparently to woo the public, Shehbaz also referred to the provision of the Metro Bus service to Rawalpindi, the Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology, the Rawalpindi Institute of Urology, Sports Complex and the improvement of treatment facilities in existing hospitals during his previous tenure.

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In an interaction with The Express Tribune, citizens welcomed the announcement of new projects, upgrade of old network, and completion of the Ring Road. Muhammad Bashir, Kamran Malik, Sajid Mehmood and Shabbir Ahmed are of the view that apart from politics, the most important thing is to provide all basic facilities to the city.

They pinpointed acute problems of drinking water, gas, health and education. They said the Metro Bus service has proved to be a very successful project, and if the Blue Train project sails through, it would further improve travel facilities.

According to the citizens, four universities and dozens of educational institutions in Rawalpindi are even insufficient to solve the academic problems. They demanded more educational institutions keeping in view the rising number of students.

The citizens have urged all political parties to do away with the [traditional] politics of blaming each other and instead pay attention to solving the people’s [genuine] problems.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 29^th, 2024.