CHITRAL: The police registered a case against the chairmen of two village councils of Garam Chashma Valley on the complaint of the tehsil municipal officer, Chitral, for dumping garbage into the river, thereby polluting the water and jeopardising aquatic life.

The police have yet to arrest the chairman, Nawab Khan of Ziarat village council, and Allauddin of Parabeg, against whom a case has been instituted under different sub-sections of section 66 of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Government Act, 2013, which envisaged action against causing pollution to safe physical environment.

The TMO swung into action after a video on social media showed the dumping of the solid waste of the two village councils into the river, which is the habitat of trout fish and a source of drinking water for a number of downstream villages.

Reacting to the action of the TMO, the chairmen of six different village councils of the valley also approached the Garam Chashma police station seeking registration of criminal case under different sections of Pakistan Penal Code against the municipal officer for his ‘failure’ to discharge his duty, which led to the dumping of the garbage into the river.

In their joint application, they contended that under the Local Government Act, 2013, the transfer of solid waste, provision of dumping site and maintenance of sanitation system was the direct responsibility of TMO, who had failed to fulfil it.

Published in Dawn, December 28th, 2025