PESHAWAR: Water and Sanitation Services Peshawar (WSSP) and district administration in a joint crackdown sealed 31 unregistered carwash centres/service stations in different localities of the provincial metropolis on Thursday.

Teams led by additional assistant commissioners Shehbaz Khattak, Saman Abbas WSSP zonal manager Eng Turab Khan, Eng Fakhar Alam and others also raided hotels and wedding halls in different localities.

The crackdown was launched after the district government decided to close down the unregistered services stations, wedding halls and hotels if their owners were not willing to register them.

The teams also issued notices to 60 hotels, services stations and wedding halls for getting unregistered water connections. They directed the owners to get their properties registered within three days.

After expiry of the deadline, the unregistered hotels, carwash centres and wedding halls would be sealed under local government laws.

The owners of the properties were also directed to get No Objection Certificate (NOC) for using water from government tubewells or pumping out water from their own bore wells.

The raids were conducted in Hayatabad, Board Bazaar, University Road, Tehkal, Gulberg, Kohat Road, Nauthia, Bara Road, Umer Gul Road and Nawa Kallay.

Besides, the consumers were also sensitised about water conservation and timely payment of municipal bills. They were told that timely payment of municipal bills would bring improvement in the services delivery.

Several shopkeepers were also fined for dumping waste on roads. They were directed to dispose the waste properly in containers or place it before their shops so that WSSP sanitation staff could dispose it timely.

Eng Khanzeb Khan, the chief executive officer of WSSP, asked the zonal managers to ensure timely recovery of arrears in their jurisdiction that would help the urban utility to improve its services.

Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2019