Hoteliers asked to keep tourists away from riversides

MANSEHRA: The tehsil administration has warned hoteliers along the Kunhar riversides to install the barbed wires or stop tourists from going near the water or else legal action would be taken against them.

“We have restricted entry of tourists at the Kunhar riversides for their safety as the incidents of drowning increased in recent years,” Basharat Bibi, Assistant Commissioner of Balakot, told reporters on Monday.

The assistant commissioner and deputy superintendent of police visited hotels along the Kunhar riversides, separately and warned of the strict legal action if tourists were allowed to proceed ahead.

“We have also been taking measures at the open sides of Kunhar to restrict the entry of the tourists as selfie-takers and those making recreational activities at the riversides slipped and drowned in many incidents,” Basharat Bibi said.

She said that the tehsil municipal administration had also installed warning boards at riversides in Balakot warning tourists to keep away from water or taking selfies.Deputy Superintendent of Police Siraj Khan told reporters that the police teams were ensuring that visitors were not going closer to the water to take recreational activities and selfies there.

“We have also taken action against visitors who, despite the ban, sneaked into the riversides for the recreational activities,” he said. Mohammad Yasir, a hotelier, said that most of the hotels situated at the Kunhar riversides had erected barbed wires.“The visitors coming here don’t know about the danger of the Kunhar riversides and go near the water which claims lives every year,” he said.