The development of Gorakh Hill Station will start shortly after funds have recently been released for this purpose.
Despite the fact that President Asif Ali Zardari had time and again instructed the authorities concerned to accelerate progress on hill station’s development, work at the site had come to a halt.
The beautiful hill station is situated within the limits of Dadu district and lies at the altitude of 5,688 feet above the sea level. It has the temperature in between 15 and 16 degree centigrade even in the summer season.
The development work at the site was launched in 1989, but the project could not be completed despite the passage of more than 21 years due to lethargy of the authorities concerned.
To accelerate the pace of work, the Sindh government established the Gorakh Hills Development Authority (GHDA) few years back that initiated various uplift projects including construction of huts, canteens, tuck shops, restaurants etc.
However, all construction was stopped by contractors due to the non-release of funds from the Sindh Tourism Department, a source told Pakistan Today.
“Tourism Secretary Pir Bux Jamali stopped Rs 180 million in funds to the GHDA and all the development work came to a halt,” the source added.
According to the source, the tourism secretary considers the project a waste of time and money.
However, GHDA Director General Engineer Nazir Ahmed Chakrani took up the matter with senior authorities including president, prime minister and the chief minister and the pending funds were released recently after Jamali’s transfer.
Chakrani told Pakistan Today that the new secretary, Safdar Ali Shah is taking personal interest in the development of the hill station and the development work at the site will be restarted shortly.