Tougher punishment for polluting canals

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Monday unanimously passed the Canal and Drainage (Amendment) Bill, 2015 amending Section 70 of Act No VIII of 1873.
The new amendments are related to enhancing punishment for polluting canal water by diverting sewerage lines and throwing garbage and polythene bags as well as making encroachments on the sides of the canals. For the words ‘fifty rupees’ and ‘one month’ the words ‘twenty thousand rupees’ and ‘two years’ but not less than one year shall, respectively, be substituted for punishing the violators.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Prevention of Conflict of Interest Bill, 2015, which was to be passed, was kept pending for consultation on the request of Munawar Khan and Mahmood Khan Bhittani, MPAs of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F).
Law Minister Imtiaz Shahid Qureshi tabled the Whistleblower Protection and Vigilance Commission Bill, 2015 on behalf of Chief Minister Pervez Khattak.
Speaker Asad Qaiser, on a privilege motion by JUI-F MPA Malik Riaz, asked the inspector general of police (IGP) to suspend station house officer (SHO) of Mandan Police Station, Bannu for demanding bribe from the lawmaker. He also referred the motion to the assembly’s privilege committee.
Speaking on the motion, Malik Riaz alleged that SHO Amanullah Khan, through District Councillor Sajjad Khan, sent a message to him on September 22 to buy an LCD TV for him.
He said that on September 26, the SHO again sent head constable Asmatullah with a message that “the SHO demands Rs30,000.”
The MPA said that by demanding bribe, the police officer had hurt his feelings and breached his privilege. “This is the reason the motion should be referred to the privilege committee,” he added.
Minister for Public Health Engineering Shah Farman, who is from the PTI, supported the motion and said it was insulting and the government would never encourage such corrupt practices.
Zarin Gul, MPA of JUI-F, said the SHO should be suspended immediately before starting the inquiry against him and the motion be referred to the concerned committee.
On a call attention notice, Malik Riaz drew the attention of the House towards lack of facilities of clean drinking water, mosque and ablution arrangements at two main public parks in Peshawar’s Hayatabad locality that are visited by hundreds of visitors. In his reply, Shah Farman said it was an important issue but it should be kept pending till arrival of the concerned minister in the House.
The House also adopted the report of the standing committee on administration department and the second six-monthly report of monitoring on implementation of NFC Award under section 160 (3B) of the Constitution, (January to June 2014) for presentation in the Assembly.
The Speaker adjourned the session till today.