I AM a resident of Buner valley in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Apart from being blessed with scenic beauty, high mountains and wildlife, this place is home to the world’s best marble.

The city has a booming marble industry and about 60 to 70 per cent marble of Malakand is processed, used locally and exported as well. Buner has almost over 500 factories that are providing 0.5 million jobs to the local people.

However, this also poses environmental problems for it has killed some fish species besides harming crops and people owing to lack of sewage plants. The previous government had vowed to make Buner an industrial estate and a ‘marble city’ but this promise seems just a tall claim. Nothing has been done in this regard so far.

There is a need for establishing a marble city here which will bolster the economy and create jobs. It will save the environment too.

Dawood Alam

Buner

Published in Dawn, November 17th, 2018