PESHAWAR, April 7: The NWFP environment tribunal has started functioning and has issued notices to 36 parties for various environment-related offences. Justice (retd) Abdur Rauf Lughmani is chairman of the tribunal and District and Sessions Judge Syed Wajahat Ali Shah is its member (legal). The tribunal has summoned the 36 parties on April 16. The cases pertain to factories, brick kilns, crush machines and marble manufacturing units situated in Peshawar and its adjoining areas.

They are charged with violating different provisions of the Pakistan Environment Protection Act, 1997.

Talking to Dawn, tribunal registrar Jawedur Rehman said that previously a tribunal based in Lahore was dealing with cases pertaining to the NWFP.

In September, he said, the federal government issued a notification for the setting up of a separate tribunal for the NWFP in Peshawar. However, no courtroom and offices were provided for the next six months delaying the start of proceedings in the cases transferred to the tribunal from Lahore.

He said that recently the courtroom used by the accountability court No 2 fell vacant following the elevation of its judge to the high court and added that the environmental tribunal had been set up in the said courtroom.