PESHAWAR, Dec 8: Unable to rein in militants threatening peace and security in Peshawar and Kohat, the government revived plans to merge the semi-autonomous Darra Adamkhel into settled districts and introduce district administrative and police system there, credible sources told Dawn.

Perched between Peshawar to the North and Kohat to the South, the arms-manufacturing Darra Admakhel has long been an administrative enigma for the government. Sited on the strategic Indus Highway linking Peshawar to Karachi, the small hilly town is administered by an assistant political agent.

Known as Frontier Region, Kohat, Darra Adamkhel is policed by a rag-tag tribal force called the Khasadars.

Government officials now acknowledge the time has come to take some bold decisions to do away with the special status of the dusty town that had long remained the abode of notorious car-lifters and counterfeit experts.

They say that the tribes there have proven to be too weak to face new challenges thrown by violent and aggressively-assertive militants’ bands, while the Khasadars do not have the wherewithal to maintain security and order.

After years of reluctant deliberations, the government now appears to be seriously considering introducing administrative reforms as part of the effort to merge the world famous arms manufacturing town into Peshawar and Kohat.

“We would like to do it in two phases,” the highly-placed source said, requesting he not be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.

He said that the government was considering giving tax holiday in Darra Adamkhel to regulate the arms manufacturing business and bring the indigenous industry into the mainstream.

As an added incentive, he said, the government could also consider granting two provincial constituencies to the small town instead of just one that would have come its way under normal circumstances. It may also be given the status of a sub-district or tehsil before its merger either into Peshawar or Kohat, the source said.

The government is also considering an alternative to the Indus Highway to ensure traffic remains open between the northern and southern tips of the country.

The source said that while full merger might take two to three years, in the first phase the government was considering to boost up administrative control over the region by permanently deploying the paramilitary Frontier Corps in the region and granting it full policing powers.

Additionally, the Frontier Constabulary, which hitherto has no jurisdiction in Darra, would also be given powers to operate in the area. “We are actively considering introducing administrative reforms in a month and a half time,” the source said, adding that it was a very important policy step with positive implications for the future.

It may be mentioned here that similar plans had been in the works in the past as well including one in the mid-90s but all such efforts didn’t go beyond some official meetings and discussions.

Comprising just a few square kilometers area, Darra Admakhel has proven to be a thorn in the neck for the security and law enforcement agencies in terms of security in Peshawar and Kohat.

Similarly, he said, the Malakand Levies were also being given the status of a regular police force with improved training and service structure to give them more powers to improve the law and order situation.