MANSEHRA: The fishery department has launched a crackdown on the illegal hunting of mulla and other endangered fishes in the Siren River.

“The action is meant to check the use of electric current and explosives to catch fish,” inspector of the fisheries department Sadia Noor told reporters in Dadar area of Siren valley on Saturday.

Led by Ms Noor, a team of the department arrested three men for illegally fishing in the Siren River in Dadar and Sum areas and fined them heavily.

“We have been issuing permits for fishing with the help of hooks, so killing fishes by electric current and explosives can’t be allowed,” Ms Noor said.

She said the department was taking all possible measures to protect mulla and other local fishes.

Trader leader in Jabori area Abdul Wahid Khan said the crackdown on illegal fishing was a good initiative but the fishery department’s inspectors weren’t properly equipped to reach the areas, where illegal fishing took place.

CNG STATIONS SEALED:The district administration has sealed around a dozen CNG stations for violating the sale restriction.

The Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) had ordered the closure of CNG stations across Hazara division until July 5.

The assistant commissioner and additional assistant commissioners raided CNG stations and sealed them until further orders. Their owners were fined Rs5,000 each and got the licence cancellation warning over the continued restriction violation.

Meanwhile, the Mansehra police arrested over three dozen professional beggars.

District police officer Asif Bahadur had ordered the SHOs of all police stations to arrest professional beggars, who reached the district from Punjab and other parts of the country after the start of the summer season.

The police said Kaghan, Balakot and Mansehra areas had record presence of beggars and therefore, they had to crack down on them.

Published in Dawn, July 4th, 2021