MANSEHRA: The food department has initiated wheat procurement from growers here.

“We have started the exercise to buy wheat from farmers here. The first 10 days are dedicated to them,” said deputy commissioner Adnan Khan Bittani at the procurement launching ceremony held here the other day.

The provincial government has set the wheat price at Rs3,900 per 40kg for farmers transporting their yield from Punjab to Mansehra.

“We have started purchasing wheat from growers on the directives of Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur,” Mr Bittani said.

He said to ensure a transparent process, a 10-member committee was constituted to assess the quality of wheat.

The DC added that if wheat was cleared, the food department would purchase it at the notified price.

He urged the local farmers to sell wheat in the first 10 days of the procurement campaign.

Meanwhile, the chairmen of village and neighbourhood councils have appreciated a hike in their honorariums, office rents, and overhead charges.

“The chief minister has taken effective measures to empower the local government system. We have been struggling for funds and honorariums since the introduction of the LG system two years ago,” chairman of the Shergar village council Ijaz Ahmad told reporters.

He urged the government to release development funds to the village and neighbourhood councils to improve civic services.

OLD JEEPS: Police department on Tuesday announced that it will ensure removal of all worn out jeeps from fleets transporting tourists to mountainous resorts in Kaghan Valley and Shogran.

“The incidences of road accidents on the mountainous tracks in Kaghan Valley and the Shogran resort have increased and to reduce these fatalities to zero level, we have decided to inspect fitness of thousands of four-wheelers operating in these areas and throughout the district,” said Shahnawaz Khan, deputy superintendent of police (Traffic) speaking to reporters.

He said that DPO Shafeeullah Khan Gandapur has directed physical inspection of all the four-wheelers in Kaghan Valley and Shogran following a recent incident where two female students from Postgraduate College Haripur died in a jeep accident in the Kawai area earlier this week.

“We have directed the motor and vehicle examiner to schedule physical inspections for four-wheelers in Kaghan Valley and Shogran and we cannot allow drivers to endanger the lives of passengers in these remote parts of the district,” Mr Khan said.

The DSP said that the documents of all jeeps operating in these mountainous areas will also be checked and verified and all four-wheelers without proper documentation will face strict legal action.

Published in Dawn, May 22nd, 2024