Pending: Murree yet to be given district status

Ongoing political tensions force plans on to backburner.

RAWALPINDI:

Murree still awaits the granting of full district status despite the completion of the mandatory paperwork.

The ongoing political turmoil in the country, especially in the capital, has pushed the scheme on the back burner for the time being.

In May, the provincial government completed paperwork and modalities to confer on district status Murree. An official said that the file has been forwarded to the Prime Minister’s Secretariat for final approval.

“Due to the prevailing political standoff, the prime minister, who is the competent authority to approve the file, may not have the time to clear the pending files on his table,” said the official.  He said that after the approval, Murree would be divided into two parts— urban and rural.

He said that Murree and Kotli Sattian will consist of urban areas while 25 union councils of both the tehsils will comprise rural areas.

Earlier, the government had formed a seven-member-committee headed by Minister of Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, the MNA from Murree’s NA-50 constituency, to carry out the paperwork.

The committee has completed the modalities that involved merging Kotli Sattian and Murree tehsils to create a new district.

Development work at standstill 

“No new development work has been initiated in Muree since the beginning of the new financial year, nor could any meetings be held to review progress on active projects as all attention has been diverted towards the sit-ins,” the official said.

He said work on projects including a cable car project from Kashmir Point to the Shawala area, a food park at Jheeka Gali and the Murree Bulk Water Project could not be started.

District Coordination Officer Sajid Zafar Dall said a decision will likely come after the political standoff in Islamabad is settled.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 28^th, 2014.