ISLAMABAD, May 31: The NWFP government has, through two separate notifications, declared Haripur and Mansehra districts of Hazara division (excluding Balakot tehsil), as calamity-hit areas due to the drought, exempting them from all provincial taxes as well as rescheduling banks and federal government loans besides writing off in some cases of small loans.

Through an NWFP Revenue Department notification No381 dated 13.05.2002 the entire district of Haripur has been declared as calamity hit while through another notification No417 dated 14-5-2002 the district of Mansehra, excluding tehsil Balakot, has been declared as calamity hit, apparently due to selective appeals of the people of the area or use of political pressures.

As a result of this government decision the Batagram, Abbottabad and Kohistan districts with less political clout have been neglected from being declared as calamity-hit areas.

Under the small loans exemption scheme of Agricultural Development scheme alone, in all the district of Haripur and Mansehra tehsil people will get relief of at least Rs40 million in in the form of written-offs small loans of the ADBP up to Rs25000 and interest amounts on the loans below Rs100,000 as announced by President Gen Pervez Musharraf recently.

The sources said that the drought had hit hard the whole of Hazara division with not much water channels or natural fountains available to provide irrigation water and, as a result, the crops had either got destroyed or wasted due to lack of rains.

The areas being declared calamity-hit have some sort of canal irrigation system while the Abbottabad district, Sherwan and Batagaram district and tehsil Balakot in Mansehra have no irrigation system at all.

Hence the people of these areas have been ignored from the relief announced by the government.