Visitors turned away from Hazara Division

A large number of people from Punjab and K-P travelled to Mansehra during the Eid holiday

ABBOTABAD:

The police and district administrations of the Hazara division Monday successfully enforced a ban on tourists from entering the hilly areas of the region. Before the Eidul Azha vacations commenced, the Mansehra deputy commissioner had imposed a ban on the entry of tourists in the popular hill-stations of Kaghan, Naran and other tourist spots under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).

He had also cancelled the vacations of officials at the Kaghan Development Authority (KDA) for monitoring and enforcing the ban. Subsequently, the Mansehra police set up check posts at all entry and exit points to the Hazara area, including on the motorway and the Karakoram Highway (KKH) where they checked the Computerised National Identity Cards (CNIC) of visitors. Only locals were allowed to continue onwards.

K-P govt issues guidelines for reopening tourism

A large number of people from Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) travelled to Mansehra during the Eid holidays but were turned back.

Similarly, the Abbottabad police set up check posts at all entry points of the district, particularly in the Galiyat, Sajji Kot and Umbrella waterfalls. In Haripur, the situation was different, where despite the restrictions, a large number of tourists from Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Hazara division and other districts of K-P gathered at the Khanpur lake, Tarbela lake, and Bhuttri dam.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 4^th, 2020.