BAJAUR: The district administration has sealed eight marble factories in Bajaur tribal district for operating without septic tanks to discharge the used water as per the government policy set for such plants.

A statement issued by the DC office here on Friday said the marble factories were sealed during an action conducted by a team of the administration officials.

It said the action against the factories was taken after the team found that they lacked septic tanks and had not taken other measures obligatory for safe discharge of the used water to keep the environment clean.

The statement claimed that the administration had warned the owners of all marble factories in this regard some two weeks ago.

It said the owners should ensure all the mandatory measurers in their factories voluntarily, which were also vital for the health of workers.

It said the marble factories not taking necessary steps were creating serious problems for the local community by causing several diseases in the region.

The statement also said that the owners of all the stone crushing plants in the district, which had been sealed about three weeks ago for operating without licences, should get proper legal documents from the relevant departments if they wanted to make them operational.

Published in Dawn, March 6th, 2021