Official says steps on to check illegal mining

NOWSHERA: The district administration was taking steps to stop the illegal mining of gold in the Kabul and Indus rivers flowing in the limits of the Nowshera district, a senior official said on Tuesday.

Talking to reporters after chairing a meeting in this regard, Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Kabir Afridi said that they had launched action against those involved in illegal mining of gold in the Kabul and Indus rivers.

He said that over the last two months, around 250 cases were registered while scores of people were arrested in raids to check the illegal mining.

The official said the joint checkposts of the officials from the district administration, the police and the Mine and Minerals department would be established on the bank of the Kabul and Indus rivers to prevent illegal mining.

Kabir Afridi said that an organised mafia was involved in illegal mining not only in Nowshera, but also in Charsadda, Kohat, Swabi, Chitral and Attock district in Punjab. It may be mentioned here that a former nazim Shad Muhammad Khan, Falak Niaz Khan and others elders had recently asked the government and the Task Force on anti-gold smuggling to take action against the illegal gold mining in the Kabul and Indus rivers.

They had said that Kabul and Indus rivers, which were flowing in Nowshera, contained gold in the sediments and sands. They had demanded the government to regulate the mining of gold as illegal activity was causing huge loss to the national exchequer.