BAJAUR: The district administration on Friday arrested owners of 15 marble factories for operating without septic tanks in their units.

A team of the district administration led by assistant commissioner, Khar, Muhibullah Khan Yousafzai paid surprise inspection visits to the factories located in Sheikh Kallay area, according to a statement issued from the deputy commissioner’s office.

It said the officials inspected several factories and found 15 of them operating without septic tanks necessary to safely discharge the affluent to keep the surroundings clean.

The statement said the administration had frequently directed the owners of marble outlets to install septic tanks, but most of them failed to abide by the instructions, leading to arrests.

Mr Yousafzai instructed the owners of all marble factories to strictly follow the government policy to keep the environment clean and protect their workers from any health hazard.

Also in the day, the district administration launched crackdown on trucks carrying marble out of the district for crossing the weight limit.

According to a separate statement issued from the DC office, the administration launched the action on people’s complaints that most of trucks carrying marble from the mining areas were overloaded, damaging roads.

The statement said deputy commissioner Mohamnad Anwarul Haq had directed assistant commissioner, Khar subdivision Muhibullah Khan Yousafzai to ensure trucks didn’t cross the weight limits.

During checking, Mr Yousafzai, who was also accompanied by police personnel, found most of trucks overloaded, and instructed the drivers to follow the weight limits. He warned the drivers that they would be arrested if they didn’t abide by the rules in future.

Published in Dawn, June 10th, 2023