MANSEHRA: The Rescue 1122 divers are struggling to find bodies of a woman and a minor girl swept away by water suddenly released by authorities from the Dubair Khawar dam, an official said on Thursday.

“Our search for bodies is hampered by the torrent of water in the Indus River,” Rescue 1122 district head Sajid Ali told reporters in Lower Kohistan.

He, however, said that Rescue 1122 teams would continue trying to find the bodies.

The woman and the 12-year-old girl were caught unawares when the Wapda released water from the reservoir due to high inflow without warning. Both were swept away by torrents.

Woman, girl swept away as water suddenly released from Dubair dam

The incident occurred as the two were crossing the dried bed of the Dubair stream on foot, according to Mr Ali.

PROTESTS: The chairmen of village and neighbourhood councils here on Thursday warned they and other local body members would stage street protests if the federal government didn’t withdraw a recent increase in land transaction tax.

Chairman of the Safada village council Basharat Ali Swati told reporters that the government used to collect four per cent tax withholding tax on the sale and purchase of land but it was increased to 10 per cent in the last budget and had been doubled in the current budget.

“This tax isn’t acceptable to us at all,” he said.

Accompanied by chairmen of other village and neighbourhood councils, Mr Swati demanded an immediate withdrawal of an increase in tax on land transactions.

He claimed that the people had stopped selling land due to the federal government’s tax move.

Chairman of the Mera Amjad Ali village council Abdul Qayyum said that both land buyers and sellers suffered due to the preparation of land valuation tables by patwar circles as the government increased the land price almost three times more than its market rates.

He warned that if the “unjustified” taxes and land valuation table weren’t withdrawn, local body members would take to the streets.

The council chairman complained that the federal government had also enhanced the advance income tax from three per cent to six per cent for non-filer land sellers and from six per cent to 10 per cent for buyers.

President of the Federal Anjuman-i-Patwarian Sarfraz Abbasi said the imposition of federal taxes and increase in prices had decreased land mutation rate by almost 90 per cent.

Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2023