15 hotels sealed in Galiyat
A day after all tourists were told to leave the region, the Abbottabad District Administration on Friday sealed and heavily fined at least 15 hotels, restaurants and guest houses in the Galiyat region who had defied a lockdown imposed by the government to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19). The district administration and the Galiyat Development Authority (GDA) had on Thursday set a 24-hour deadline for vacating all hotels and rest houses in the region after the provincial government imposed a complete ban on the movement of tourists in the hilly areas, especially in Nathiagali, Donga Gali, Bara Gali, Ayubia and other picnic spots in Galiyats. On Friday, the Abbottabad Additional Commissioner-III visited the Galiyat region on Friday and took action. He further warned that the district administration will fully implement the government’s directives and once again requested all tourists to vacate the hotels and rest houses in the region.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 25th, 2020.