SWABI: Hundreds of youngsters were arrested and their bikes seized as district police launched a crackdown on underage drivers, officials said on Wednesday.

The campaign is aimed to avoid road accidents, protect precious lives and ensure safe journey of people on roads.

The officials asked the people, especially the parents, to help police control the increasing trend of underage driving.

During the crackdown, 380 teenagers were detained along with their bikes, and their parents were called to the respective police stations to guarantee that their children won’t indulge in the dangerous practice in future.

Sajjad Ahmad, district traffic warden, said the crackdown would continue for a week to curb the menace of underage driving.

It was learnt that the parents were told to submit surety bounds and produce documents of the motorcycles to get back their vehicles and children from the police custody. However, police said majority of the bikes were not registered.

WATER SHORTAGE: Various localities of Topi main city have been without water for last four days as the public health engineering department has failed to repair an out of order pump, residents complained on Wednesday.

The most-affected areas are Zako, Mero, Musakhel, Haidar Colony and Hamlet Mor.

The people said the faulty water pump had been taken to the district headquarters for repair, and officials concerned had also promised its speedy repair, but to no avail.

About 4,000 people of the localities have been suffering since the water supply was suspended, said Umer Shahzad Khan, a local.

When contacted, the officials said the water pump would hopefully be repaired and re-installed soon.

The local PTI leaders should ensure early repair of the water pump so that local could take a sigh of relief in the hot weather, demanded Ubaidur Rehman Khan of Mero area.

Published in Dawn, June 27th, 2019