MANSEHRA: The police department has prohibited the operation of a hot air balloon in the Bisian area of Balakot tehsil here.

The balloon, the first in the country’s history, took its maiden flight last week after inauguration by PML-N MNA and former federal minister Sardar Mohammad Yusuf.

“A group of residents began recreational rides in a hot air balloon, but since the activity wasn’t authorised, we stopped it for the safety of riders until the operators secure a proper licence,” district police officer Shafiullah Khan Gandapur told reporters on Saturday.

He said that the balloon along with the related equipment was seized by a police team, led by Balakot SHO Faisal Khalil.

DPO says any activity that endangers lives can’t be allowed

The DPO said that the police couldn’t allow any activity, which endangered lives.

He said that anyone wanting to operate hot air balloons should be licensed by the relevant department.

Resident Ikramullah complained that the operators promised riders an aerial tour of the entire Kaghan Valley for Rs5,000 each but the balloon could cover 200 meters only.

He also insisted that no safety gears were given to the riders, endangering their lives.

“Such initiatives can promote tourism only if they’re conducted in line with safety protocols and deliver on promises,” he said.

The resident said that no one should be allowed to put others’ lives in danger.

RESIGNED: Senior vice-president of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Lower Kohistan Abdul Hakeem on Saturday resigned from his position, complaining about the appointment of the brother of a Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl MPA as the head of the district zakat committee.

“I, along with my father Malik Mir Zad Khan, a close aide to PTI founder Imran Khan, rendered great sacrifices for the party but the leadership ignored me and appointed the JUI-F MPA’s younger brother as the head of the district’s zakat body,” Mr Hakeem told reporters.

He said that he was detained after the May 9 protests.

Mr Hakeem claimed that his name for the position was finalised by PTI provincial general secretary Ali Asghar Khan, in consultation with Speaker of the provincial assembly Babar Saleem Swati, but the two later “succumbed to the pressure from JUI-F MPA Sajjadullah Baqi and appointed his brother in my place.”

He added that the PTI’s provincial general secretary forced the chief minister’s special assistant on zakat, Mashal Yusufzai, to notify Baqi as the zakat committee’s chairman.

Mr Hakeem said that revenue minister and PTI divisional president Nazir Abbasi contacted the chief minister over the appointment, but Baqi was retained as the head of the district zakat committee.

Published in Dawn, December 29th, 2024