MANSEHRA: The Alliance of Local Government Chairmen on Tuesday warned that if the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government didn`t allocate development funds to village and neighbourhood councils in the upcoming budget, it should be ready to face protests from the LG members in the provincial capital.

`We have decided to protest outside the provincial assembly during the budget session, as local governments have been deprived of their funds and rights for the last three consecutive years,` general secretary of the alliance Basharat Ali Swati told reporters here.

He said the village and neighbourhood council chairmen convened a meeting in Mansehra and unanimously decided to stage the protest during the budget session if their demands were not met.

`We demand that the government consult local government chairmen before finalising the 2025-26 budget and release the development funds that have been withheld for the last three years, he said.

Mr Swati said that residents of the village and neighbourhood councils across the Hazara Division and the rest of the province continued to be deprived of their rightful funds and authority, as guaranteed under the Local Government Act, 2013.He said the provincial government was bound to allocate 20 per cent of its development budget for village, neighbourhood, and tehsil councils but it had failed to do so since the installation of the grassroots level governance system.

`We have been coordinating with our counterparts in Peshawar and other parts of the province and if the government does not engage with us before announcing the next budget, we will stage a large-scale protest outside the assembly,` he warned.

The alliance leader said that representatives of local governments had been campaigning for their rights and financial autonomy since the establishment of village and neighbourhood councilsin the province.

BAN ON FISHING: The district administration has imposed a ban on fishing in local rivers, streams and nullahs to check the use of illegal methods for catching aquaticspecies.

An order, issued by deputy commissioner Khalid Iqbal, said multiple complaints were received about the use of illicit techniques, such as electric currents to catch fish, posing a serious threat to aquatic life.

Itaddedthatabanhadbeenenforced under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code on illegal fishing activities in the Kunhar and Siren rivers, as well as other streams and nullahs within the jurisdiction of Mansehra district.

`Initially, the ban will remain in effect for two months but may be extended if deemed necessary by the district administration. Its violators will face punitive action under Section 188 of the Pakistan Penal Code,` the order read.