BAJAUR: District administration here on Thursday sealed eight illegal stone crushing plants for violating environmental regulations.
According to a statement, action against unlawful outlets located in different areas of Utmankhel tehsil was taken by a team of district administration officials led by Khar subdivision additional assistant commissioner Muhammad Nisar Khan.
The statement issued by deputy commissioner’s office stated that the officials sealed the outlets after confirming that they were not only operating against the provincial government’s environmental regulations and standard operating procedures (SOPs), but also had noobjection certificates (NOCs) from thedistrict administration and the environment department.
It said the authorities had repeatedly advised owners of these outlets through written notices to follow environmental regulations, following frequent complaints from the local community.
However, the statement alleged that management of the outlets totally ignored the directives, which prompted the officials to seal those on the spot as a penalty.
The statement added that these illegally operating stone crushing plants were not only breaching provincial government rules and regulations, but also affecting local communities as they had been established near residential areas.
Correspondent