LOWER DIR: The residents of Shamshi Khan Talash on Tuesday demanded of the government to appoint more in the local high school for girls.

Talking to local journalists in Talash, the locals including Liaquat Khan, Malik Ayub Khan, Malik Bakht Zaman and others said that total number of students in Government Girls High School Shamshi Khan Talash was 890. They said that the number of science students in 9th and 10th grade was 432, who were being taught by only two science teachers.

They said that the posts of principal and two Senior Certified Teachers were vacant since long. They said that more teachers should immediately be appointed in the school. They threatened to bring the students of the school on roads if their demand was not met within a month.

An official of education department, when contacted, said that two more science teachers were deployed at the school and they were asked to ensure their arrival within a couple of days.

PROTEST: The residents of Osakai and political leaders of Adenzai on Monday threatened to block Swat Expressway if government failed to review its decision about establishment of an industrial zone on the agricultural land in Osakai.

The demand was made during a protest rally held outside Chakdara Press Club. Hundreds of farmers from Osakai area and members of opposition parties blocked the main road and chanted slogans against the government and local lawmakers.

PPP divisional president Bakht Baidar Khan, JUI-F district general secretary Javed Iqbal, JI activist Syed Liaqatul Mulk, former district councillor Gul Mohammad, president of Anjuman Tajaran Chakdara Khwaja Faiz ul Ghafoor, PTI member Imtiaz Khan and others spoke on the occasion.

They said that farmers were not ready to donate their lands for the industrial estate. They said that government announced establishment of an industrial zone without taking local farmers into confidence. They said the proposed industrial zone would increase pollution in the area.

The protesters threatened to block Swat Expressway if government failed to review its decision within a week.

Published in Dawn, August 4th, 2021