CHITRAL: Senior vice president of the Chitral Mine Owners Association, Bashir Ahmad Khan, has made a fervent appeal to top provincial authorities and military leadership to immediately remove stringent and “unnecessary” restrictions imposed on the local mining sector, warning of an impending humanitarian and economic crisis in the region.
Addressing a packed press conference at Chitral Press Club, Mr Khan appealed to the governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the provincial minister and secretary for minerals, and the corps commander Peshawar to intervene and resolve the issue.
He said that administrative restrictions had brought Chitral’s mining sector to a complete standstill, undermining a vital pillar of the local economy that plays a crucial role in regional development, employment generation and poverty alleviation.
According to the association leader, thousands of families across Chitral depend on the mining sector for their livelihoods, with many residents working as daily-wage labourers.
Association calls for urgent govt intervention
However, the sudden enforcement of stringent regulations has brought operations at several mining sites to a complete standstill, leaving thousands of workers without a source of income.
The situation has been further aggravated by a ban on transporting legally extracted “green mining” materials—minerals extracted through environmentally friendly methods without the use of explosives—outside the district.
The suspension of transportation has disrupted the supply chain and deprived thousands of daily wage earners of their livelihoods. Local elders have expressed serious concerns over the growing economic hardship, warning that a prolonged blockade could lead to food shortages and a humanitarian crisis in the mountainous valley.
Mr Khan also expressed concern over the newly introduced regulatory requirements, particularly the mandatory No Objection Certificates (NOCs) from multiple government departments, including the district administration.
He argued that the complicated and time-consuming clearance process was causing substantial delays in transporting extracted minerals to markets in other parts of the country, rendering mining operations increasingly unviable.
The restrictions have also raised concerns within the business community, which has invested heavily in Chitral’s mineral sector. Both local and international investors have committed substantial capital to heavy machinery, workforce management and long-term mineral leases across the district’s resource-rich areas.
Mr Khan emphasised that Chitral’s mining sector had significant untapped potential to stimulate economic growth, create employment opportunities and improve living standards in the impoverished region.
Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2026
