Mega recreational project planned for Gujrat
GUJRAT: The district administration has sought Punjab government’s permission and funds for establishment of a big public park-cum-resort on a 90-acre piece of land along the bank of the River Chenab.
The site for the proposed ‘Chenab Park’ is located along the railway track and the old GT Road on the Gujrat side of the river. More than 70pc of the selected piece of land is owned by the provincial government while the remaining land is in possession of the Pakistan Railway.
The Chenab Park will have picnic resorts, restaurants, cafeterias, play land, joy land, a lake, five-kilometer jogging track and many other attractions for children and the youth.
The district government has moved a fresh plea to the railway for the issuance of a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for using the land for the public park.
The park at the site has been envisaged by successive political governments and district administrations for some two decades but the plan could not be materialised for various reasons.
Official sources said the plan was likely to materialise this time as the recently appointed District Coordination Officer Liaqat Ali Chatha enjoyed confidence of the PML-N Punjab leadership. He had been a deputy secretary at the CM’s office and staff officer of MNA Hamza Shahbaz.
The sources said according to a feasibility report prepared by Gujrat Town Municipal Administration, finance and revenue departments, the project’s estimated cost was Rs150 million.
Though funds for the project are initially being sought from the Punjab government, the sources, however, said that private investors could also be approached for the purpose on built, operate and transfer (BOT) basis.
Meanwhile, a playground and a small park is being developed at some nine-acre piece of land along GT Road at Kathala.
The DCO told Dawn that a mini stadium for playing cricket, hockey and football was also part of the plan and an industrialist group had adopted that project.
burn unit: The construction of a burn unit worth Rs27.5 million started on Friday at the Aziz Bhatti Shaheed Hospital under the private-public partnership.
Gujrat DCO Liaqat Ali Chatha laid the foundation stone along with veteran medical practitioner of Gujrat city Dr Muhammad Sarwar who will bear the total cost of the construction of the building as well as the machinery and other medical equipment required for the burn unit. There is no such medical facility in Gujrat for the treatment of burns.
Speaking to the participants of the inaugural ceremony, Dr Sarwar vowed to bear the running cost of the project for at least four years after its completion as he wanted to return whatever wealth he had earned from Gujrat as the people of this city had always accorded him respect.
Mega recreational project planned for Gujrat - DAWN.COM
Encroachments removed to Develop Greenbelt in Gujrat
GUJRAT: The district government has removed all encroachments along the five-kilometre area of old GT Road from Ramtalai Chowk to Servis Mor to develop a greenbelt on both sides of the highway.
A heavy machinery of the Tehsil Municipal Administration, the district highway department and other civic agencies was used to demolish encroachments illegally built on the land site of the highway.
DCO Liaquat Ali Chatha, District Officer (Coordination) Shuja Qutab Bhatti, Assistant Commissioner Afshan Rubab and other officials remained present there along with the field staff and a police contingent to monitor the operation clean-up.
The management of a marriage hall at Ramtalai Chowk offered a stiff resistance, but the DCO intervened and got registered a case against the manager of the banquet hall on the charge of interference in the official work.
Mr Chatha told reporters that indiscriminate clean-up operation had been completed and officials would remove the debris from both sides of GT Road within two days.
He said a permanent mechanism had been worked out to monitor GT Road so that no-one could develop encroachments.
Encroachments removed to develop greenbelt - DAWN.COM
