15 ferryboats impounded from Saiful Muluk Lake

MANSEHRA: The Wildlife Department, police and the tehsil administration of Balakot in a joint crackdown on Monday impounded 15 ferryboats being used for the commercial purpose in Saiful Muluk Lake.

“We have confiscated 15 boats which were being used for commercial purpose. Notices had been served on the owners of the boats by the Wildlife Department,” Hazara Commissioner Riaz Mahsud, told reporters in Naran.

The joint team led by Range Office of Wildlife, Abdul Basit Khan, Balakot Tehsildar Jamshed Khan and Kaghan SHO Wajid Khan impounded the boats. Mansehra Deputy Commissioner Qasim Ali Khan had banned the ferries from carrying tourists in the lake last year.

Riaz Mahsud said measures were being put in place to preserve the flora and fauna and ecology of the Kaghan valley. “We are taking measures to ensure the clean and green space to visitors,” he said.

He said the chief secretary and the IGP recently visited Kaghan valley and reviewed steps being taken by the district administration to attract the local and foreign tourists to here. “We have demolished encroachments alongside the Kunhar River and Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad road in the valley,” he added.The commissioner said tourists should avoid dumping garbage in Saiful Muluk Lake.