SWABI, Dec 30: District Nazim Sher Zaman Sher has demanded that the District Forest Department should be brought under the control of local government so that prompt action could be taken for the preservation of forests.

He was speaking at the concluding session of the Swabi District Council here on Monday.

He said that if the forest department came under the authority of the district government, deforestation would be effectively checked and the forest wealth would be preserved. All the dry trees, he said, would be auctioned and the money generated through this would be utilized in the welfare projects.

He criticized the forest department officials who, he alleged, had adopted an indifferent attitude. He said that when the district government approached the forest department in connection with any official work, the staff concerned adopted delaying tactics.

He said that the pace of work on the drainage system in Swabi had been accelerated. He said he had asked the district coordination officer to supervise ongoing schemes, so that the use of substandard construction material could be checked.

The district nazim said that the federal minister for water and power had announced Rs20 million for the provision of electricity to some areas and other development works, but so far no practical steps had been taken in this connection.

Sher Zaman Sher also opposed the imposition of heavy fines on consumers by Pesco.