MINGORA: The officials of Vehicle Emission Testing Station (VETS) here launched a crackdown on vehicles causing environmental pollution.

The officials said that the crackdown on the vehicles causing polluting would continue till the last vehicle. They said that two-stroke rickshaws in Mingora were the main cause of polluting environment.

“Today we are checking two-stroke rickshaws, which are the major cause of polluting environment as those emit carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide, which not only have a negative impact on environment but also on human health,” said Imtiaz Ahmad, the head of Vehicle Emission Testing Station in the district. He added that they were also checking the noise level of the vehicles. He said that the crackdown would continue against the vehicles, violating environmental laws for which they would carry out checking and monitoring operation two days in every week.

VETS officials check 150 rickshaws and impose fine on 30

The official said that the team on Thursday checked more than 150 rickshaws and tested their emission and noise level out of which fine ticket were issued to 30 for violating the protocols of National Environmental Quality Standards.

PROTEST: The local chapter of PPP staged a protest rally here the other day against the arrest of former president Asif Ali Zardari in a fake accounts case by National Accountability Bureau.

Holding placards and chanting slogans against the policies of PTI government, a large number of PPP workers gathered at Nishat Chowk in Mingora. PPP district leader Advocate Shamsher Ali and others addressed the rally.

Mr Ali said that the PTI government wanted to eliminate the poor rather than poverty. “Right from the start, this government started crushing the poor with price hike of all the daily use commodities besides increasing power and gas tariffs,” he said.

KILLED: Two people were killed by unidentified assailants here the other day.

Matta police said that a 25-year-old schoolteacher, Sabir, was shot dead at Sakhra Khwar area in Matta tehsil by unidentified assailants.

In another incident, a young man identified as Mohammad Zeb was killed by unidentified persons at Tospin area in Kokarai valley.

Published in Dawn, June 14th, 2019