MANSEHRA: The wildlife department on Wednesday arrested four people for trying to hunt rare species of pheasants in Kaghan valley.

The arrests of Ghulam Daud, Sardar Liaquat and Abdul Malik of Abbottabad and Taj Mohammad of Balakot were made by a team led by divisional wildlife officer Rehmatullah Marwat when they entered a wildlife sanctuary in Manshi revered forests.

The department later freed hunters on payment of Rs25,000 fine imposed under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Wildlife Act 2015.

“The hunters wanted to prey on Koklas and Kialegee pheasants in the wildlife sanctuary but we thwarted their illegal plan by taking them into custody. They all were later released after they paid fine,” said Rehmatullah Marwat.

He said the relevant officials of the department would be given cash prizes for the timely arrest of hunters.

The wildlife officer said the department had strictly banned the hunting of pheasants in Kaghan valley and other sanctuaries in the division and therefore, violators of the ban would be deal with strictly.

He said pheasants moved down to low-altitude areas in the valley due to snowfall in the mountainous forests with an altitude of 7,000-10,000 feet and therefore, they fell prey to hunters.

“We are vigilant in view of harsh climatic conditions in Kaghan valley. We’ve banned the people’s entry to the local wildlife sanctuaries,” he said.

Marwat said the wildlife department had been working on war footing to preserve the five indigenous species of pheasants.

“Monal, western tregopan, Cheer, Koklas and Kialegee are found in mountains of Kaghan valley and other parts of the division. Our department is making every effort to protect them from hunters besides providing them with natural habitats,” he said.

The wildlife officer said he’d directed members of his departmental staff in the region to ensure that pheasants were not hunted down.

POWER OUTAGES: The people of Mansehra and adjoining areas have complained about the prolonged and unscheduled loadshedding and said the Peshawar Electricity Supply Company has subjected them to more than 14 hours power cuts daily for many weeks.

Mohammad Azam, a Photostat machine operator, said the ruling PML-N had promised early end to loadshedding after coming to power but the promise had yet to be fulfilled.

“Electric supply remains suspended for over 14 hours daily adversely affecting business activities in the region,” he told Dawn.

He said he was struggling to meet expenses due to the excessive loadshedding.

He also complained the frequent power outages had caused water shortage.

Mohammad Ajmal said it appeared that the imminent summer season would be tough due to the excessive loadshedding.

“If Pesco failed to ensure smooth electric supply in the winter season, things will definitely be horrible in the upcoming summer season to our misery,” he said.

Published in Dawn, March 26th, 2015

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