SHANGLA: Residents of Martung and Chawga here on Wednesday opposed the closure of National Database and Registration Authority centres in both the tehsils of Shangla district.

“The Nadra centers were established by PML-N provincial president Amir Muqam seven years ago and he had also provided the building for the offices free of cost, but the Nadra officials wanted to close both the centres which will trouble the people of Makhozi and Martung,” Habib Khan, a district councillor from Chawga, told Dawn.

He said locals stood outside the registration centre in heavy rain on Wednesday for getting CNICs, but the staff told them that the office had been closed.

Fakhri-Alam, a political activist, said the officials argued that as both the centres had low ratio of daily tokens, the head office had decided to close them.

Ali Bahdar Khan of Martung said closure of Nadra office would directly affect the locals, especially aged men and women. He said the people would stage protests against the PTI government for causing inconvenience to them by shifting the Nadra offices. Faisal Zeb, local lawmaker, stated that he had urged the government and Nadra chairman not to close the centres.

SNOWFALL: Various parts of Shangla, including the district headquarters, Alpuri, received heavy snowfall, blocking Bisham-Swat and Alpuri-Puran roads on Wednesday.

The snowfall which started early on Wednesday continued till evening and blanketed the mountains. The snow also blocked roads at Shangla Top and Yakhtangay and created troubles for commuters. Power supply to the district also remained suspended all day long.

Published in Dawn, November 15th, 2018