Two arrested for illegal mining
The local administration in Abbottabad arrested two men for cutting on Tuesday and mining of hills along all main roads of the district.
The local administration along with the police, conducted a raid against illegal hill-cutting and crushing plants near Dhamtore on the Abbottabad-Murree Road when the suspects were caught and arrested.
The arrests were made for the violation of Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, as per which a ban is imposed on cutting and mining of hills.
Later, the assistant commissioner told the media that unrestrained mining and cutting of hills has already damaged the beauty of the city, and that anyone found doing so continuously despite the ban will suffer the consequences. He shared that the district administration, exercising its right to “issue orders in the public interest that may place a ban on an activity for a specific period of time. “Degradation of land always entails a serious disruption of a healthy balance between five key ecosystem functions, which comprise food production, fibre provision, microclimate regulation, water retention and carbon storage,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 22nd, 2021.