Closure of marble factories triggers protest

LANDIKOTAL: The residents of Mulagori area here on Friday staged a protest demonstration against the closure of marble factories.

Chanting slogans against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Deputy Speaker Mahmood Jan and the district authorities, the protesters were led by Qaumi Ittehad president Sajjad Khan

They also established a sit-in camp at Marble Chowk.

Local elders and owners of marble factories, including Malik Abdul Manan, Malik Rozi Khan, Abul Hassan, Sabz Ali Khan and others, attended the protest.

Speaking on the occasion, Malik Abdul Manan, Sabz Ali and Abul Hassan said that 270 marble factories had been operating in Mulagori area for decades. They alleged that district authorities sealed 104 marble factories in Mulagori at the behest of provincial assembly deputy speaker Mahmood Jan.

The authorities said the marble factories were sealed because the water coming out of these factories contained harmful chemicals that polluted the water being used for irrigating the crops in some areas of Peshawar. It was alleged that Mahmood Jan used his influence to get the factories sealed as he also owned agricultural land in the area being irrigated with the ‘polluted’ water.

The protesters said thousands of people would lose jobs if the marble factories were not de-sealed. They accused Mahmood Jan of being behind the closure of the factories.

When contacted, Deputy Commissioner Mansoor Arshad said the Peshawar High Court was hearing a case regarding the effluent being released from the marble factories in Mulagori. He said it was affecting the health of people in Peshawar.

He said that Chief Minister Mahmood Khan had issued the directives on the request of Deputy Speaker Mahmood Khan to seal the factories that did not have recycling plants for the waste.

The deputy commissioner added that the administration had issued several written notices to the owners of the marble factories to install waste recycling plants but they did not act.