MANSEHRA: The people of Mansehra and Oghi tehsils have demanded an immediate withdrawal of the recent hike in tax on real estate transactions.

Former district councillor Nawaz Khan told reporters in Dodial area here on Tuesday that the Federal Board of Revenue imposed 11 per cent tax on the sale and purchase of the land and property four months ago causing the commutation rate in the district to decline by over 80 per cent.

He insisted that offices of the revenue department and patwaris literally wore a deserted look as no property deals were taking place.

Mr Khan said land and property owners and buyers used to pay four per cent tax but the imposition of 11 per cent tax by the federal government on those transactions went up to 15 per cent.

Mansehra residents claim sale of property has plunged

He said the federal government’s move was meant to generate revenue from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but it would prove counterproductive for both the centre and province.

Oghi resident Sarfraz Khan demanded of the federal government to withdraw that tax.

He said the people were badly hit by the escalating inflation, so they couldn’t purchase land to build houses after the imposition of property taxation.

GRANITE SEIZED: The department of minerals developmenton Tuesday seized two trucks with a large quantity of granite illegally dug here.

Minerals development inspector Babar Khan Jadoon told reporters here that the illegal granite was being smuggled to Punjab on fake documents.

He said smugglers Mohammad Aqib and Mohammad Sajawal were taken into custody and shifted to the city police station.

Mr Jadoon said two others were also booked for granite smuggling and search for them had been launched.

He said his department was ensuring by all means that only leased owners transported mineral excavated in the district to industrial areas or other parts of the province and country.

Meanwhile, the people of Oghi tehsil demanded of the administration to ensure the construction of parking spaces in markets and commercial plazas.

They told reporters that the tehsil municipal administration had approved markets and plazas after the clearance of parking lots in maps and drawings, but almost all such commercial buildings were without parking spaces.

The residents said traffic mess was often reported in the city and its suburbs as all commercial plazas and markets didn’t have parking lots, so shoppers and shopkeepers parked vehicles alongside the roads.

Published in Dawn, December 21st, 2022