Murree district: Provincial government completes paperwork, PM’s approval awaited

New districts to comprise Kotli Sattian and Murree tehsils.

ISLAMABAD:

The provincial government has completed the mandatory paperwork to grant Murree the district status, but the final nod by the prime minister was awaited, said an official.

The Punjab government official told The Express Tribune that the government had formed a seven member-committee headed by Minister of Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, which had done all the footwork. “The committee has discussed the modalities involved in merging Kotli Sattian and Murree tehsils to create a new district,” he said.

According to the official, residents of the two tehsils found it challenging to travel to Rawalpindi to for administrative work.

Murree Assistant Commissioner Tahir Faooq confirmed that the committee was waiting for final approval from the prime minister. Once approved, Murree would be divided into two parts — urban and rural. Murree and Kotli Sattian would consist of urban areas while 25 union councils of both the tehsils would form rural areas, he added.

All political parties seem to be on the same page about upgrading Murree to a district. Local leader of the Pakistan Tehrik-e- Insaf Sadaqat Ali Abbasi said that his party had no objection over making Murree a district, but the city should not be treated as merely a tourist destination.

Murree city is already developed but residents in adjacent localities are still deprived of basic amenities, he stated. “We will support the move but the government should also focus on uplifting far-flung areas of the city.”

Sadaqat, who bagged the second highest number of votes from NA-50 in 2013 elections, said Murree residents still lacked clean drinking water, gas and other facilities, which will be emsured when the area is upgraded to a district.Before the final approval, the prime minister should take all stakeholders on board, he added.

Former Murree tehsil nazim and leader of Pakistan Muslim League-Q Sardar Salim Khan also supported the plan, claiming his party had taken the initiative in 2006 to give Murree the status of a district. He said that in 2006, the PML-N opposed a resolution in the Punjab Assembly.

“There is a dire need to upgrade Murree to a district, because both the tehsils have limited funds,” said Khan, who had lost his seat from PP-1 constituency to a ruling party candidate. Rawalpindi district was allocated nearly Rs700 million annual development budget but only Rs70 million was allocated to Murree, which was, according to him, a pittance.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 25^th, 2014.