MANSEHRA: The Peshawar High Court circuit bench in Abbottabad has allowed the PML-N-led district government in Mansehra to execute development schemes in line with its annual development programme approved by the district council for financial year 2016-17.

The opposition announced it would challenge the verdict in the Supreme Court.

PTI opposition councillors led by opposition leader Shahid Rafique had moved the court and secured a stay order last month against the execution of ADP schemes for 2016-17 over the alleged discrimination against them by the district nazim over the distribution of development funds.

District nazim Sardar Said Ghulam welcomed the court`s decision to allow his government to execute Rs540 million development schemes approved by the district council.

He said the tendering of scores of schemes would be completed during the current month before they were executed next month.`Now, a new era of development and prosperity will begin in our district,` he said. PTI district councillor and petitioner Ambreen Swati said the opposition would move the Supreme Court against the verdict under which 27 councillors would continue to be denied development funds.

She said a meeting of the opposition members would be called in few days to finalise matters in this respect.

Meanwhile, the administration of Mansehra has dispatched a large number of officials to the respective enumeration blocks to execute population census in the district. The census will begintoday across the country.

`We have sent more than 1,100 officials in 563 patwar blocks to collect population and home data,` deputy commissioner Iqbal Hussain told reporters here on Tuesday.

He said the district government had set up centres in Mansehra, Balakot and Oghi from where officials, including army men, to their respective Patwar circles under tight security. Correspondent