Daily Times

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday sought reply from the Water and Sanitation Services Peshawar (WASSP), Peshawar Development Authority (PDA) and the Cantonment Board about the rising environmental pollution in the provincial capital.

The PHC bench headed by Justice Yahya Afridi was informed that the aforementioned departments had failed to take any steps to control pollution in the city.

During the hearing of a petition filed by Shoaib Jaali, the bench was informed that Peshawar had been ranked second among the most polluted cities of the world. However, the authorities concerned had yet to take any remedial steps, the petitioner said.

Dr Muhammad Bashir Khan, director general of the Environment Protection Agency, appeared in the court and apprised it of the environmental degradation.

The bench directed the WSSP, the Cantonment Board, the PDA and other departments to submit their replies through the director general of the Environment Protection Agency. The bench was informed that there were 300 marble units in the Buner District that did not have any facility to treat their waste. The bench issued a notice to the district government in Buner and sought its reply.

NAB restrained: Hearing a corruption reference filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the court restrained the accountability watchdog from arresting eight officials of the Tehsil Municipal Administration. The bench also sought NAB’s reply in this case. Babar Yousafzai, the counsel for the petitioners, said the NAB arrested his clients in corruption cases and the PHC granted them bail.