PESHAWAR: The Peshawar district administration has sealed 37 illegally operating marble factories in different parts of the city for dumping untreated effluents into canals.

A statement issued here said the factories were sealed on the Warsak Road and Safid Sang areas on the outskirts of city. It said a day earlier 11 marble factories were also sealed on Warsak Road and Mullagori areas.

It quoted deputy commissioner Khalid Mehmood as saying that due to failure of these factories to install filtration plants the effluents were running into canal water, causing clogging of canals as well as affecting the agricultural productivity. He said that these factories were not heeding to district administration directions.

Separately, through another notification the Peshawar DC banned firing in the air in provincial capital for 30 days. The district administration also banned throwing laser beams at airplanes for a period of 30 days.

Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2021