No water project for Bahawalpur, PA told

LAHORE
PARLIAMENTARY Secretary for Planning and Development Ahmed Karim Qaswar Langrial on Wednesday in Punjab Assembly admitted that the government has so far not undertaken any mega projects for water distribution in Bahawalpur district in the past five years, despite the acute water scarcity experienced in the Cholistan region.
The Parliamentary Secretary was replying to a question by PML-N MPA Fauzia Ayub Qureshi during question hour. Qureshi had expressed her dissatisfaction over the response citing the poor state of affairs in the South Punjab district with millions of people unable to benefit from water accessibility.
However, Parliamentary Secretary Langrial had justified the absence of mega projects on the basis of scattered settlements of people in the district. Later, on the instructions of the PA Speaker, he retracted his original statement and said initiatives for mass water distribution would take place in Bahawalpur.
The House reassembled on Wednesday with 53 MPAs present on both benches. Noticeably, the opposition bench remained vacant for most of the question hour due to a meeting of PML-Q, JI, and PPP in the opposition chambers to chart a strategy for upcoming Senate polls. Consequently, a number of pertinent questions specific to transport, planning, and development remained unanswered.
Later due to a quorum call by PML-Q MPA Khadijah Umar, several members of the treasury bench returned to the House.
Both Parliamentary Secretary for Transport Muhammad Nawaz Chohan and his counterpart for Planning and Development Ahmed Karim Qaswar Langrial were grilled over failures of their respective departments. MPAs on both benches, including invariably disgruntled PML-N Sheikh Allauddin lamented that transport fares of buses in the province had not decreased on a notification by the government after decrease in petroleum prices. They also criticised the Transport Department for failing to ensure funds allocated for facilities in Lahore Transport Company (LTA) buses were being properly utilised.
PML-N MPA Raheela Khadim Hussain criticised Punjab Transport Department for not catering to the needs of passengers in northern Lahore, including Badami Bagh, Shadbagh, Misri Shah, and Wasanpura. She said only a few buses were operational on all 53 bus routes and residents of these areas were seriously disadvantaged. Adding to the criticism, PML-N MPA Malik Azhar Abbas Raan from Multan said the Punjab government was only busy in developing Lahore and had ignored the rest of South Punjab districts. Meanwhile, PML-N MPA Tehseen Fawad alleged that private bus companies guilty of overcharging were not being issued challan by the Transport Authority.
Dissatisfied with answers given by Chohan, PPP MPA Sardar Shahab-ud-Din Khan expressed his frustration over the continued absence of cabinet members in the House due to which parliamentary secretaries were compelled to give ill-informed answers. The PPP leader also accused district coordination committees under the Punjab government for not allotting funds for development schemes to opposition MPAs, including himself in PP-263 Layyah, instead of favouring ruling party MPAs to work in their constituencies. PPP MPA Sardar Shahab-ud-Din alleged that this was part of a bigger conspiracy to undermine opposition parties in Punjab Assembly so that they could not win votes from their constituencies. It is shameful that the roads in Layyah are suffering from neglect and are unable to cater to the sugarcane industry, said the PPP MPA. The opposition figure censured DCOs in PML-N strongholds of also displaying the faces of their MPAs on billboards advertising development schemes.
He reminded the House on Wednesday of remarks made by Leader of Opposition Senator Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan regarding the PML-N government disregard for the opposition. PML-Q parliamentary leader Vickas Hassan Mokal added to Shahab-ud-Min’s criticism citing lack of developments in his constituency PP-180.
Taking note of inaccurate replies given in question hour, acting Speaker Sher Ali Gorchani said wrong answers would not be tolerated on the floor of the House.
Once again in a hyperactive mode, PML-N MPA Sheikh Allauddin alerted the House to overcharging of medical expenses by members of PA. The Speaker upon this directed that Allauddin meet him in his chambers to inquire into this important matter. The Speaker also took note of the state of medical facilities in Punjab and instructed Adviser to CM on Health Khawaja Salman Rafique to attend PA sessions.
In other government business, the Punjab Security of Vulnerable Establishments Ordinance 2015, Punjab Information of Temporary Residents, Punjab Arms (Amendment) Ordinance 2015, and Punjab Prohibition of Expressing Matters on Walls (Amendment) Ordinance 2015 were submitted to the Standing Committee on Home Affairs. The House will resume on Thursday.