PESHAWAR: The provincial government has received the initial report of the ongoing large-scale anti-encroachment operation in the Malakand division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which includes details of operations carried out in nine districts.
During this two-week-long operation, effective measures were taken against encroachments in various districts of Malakand division—Swat, Bajaur, Buner, Lower Dir, Upper Dir, and Malakand district. Around 63 buildings were demolished during the operation, while one building was sealed in Swat. Illegal structures built on more than 20 kanals of land were demolished. Encroachments on an area of more than 204 Kanals were identified in Swat, out of which 79 Kanals have been cleared.
More than 12 kilometres of demarcation have been completed in Swat. 16 in Bajaur, 9 in Buner, 22 in Lower Dir, 11 in Dir Upper and four buildings in Malakand have been sealed. According to the report, encroachments on more than 588 Kanals of land have been revealed so far across the Malakand division, out of which more than 198 Kanals of land have been recovered.
Along with this, more than 159 kilometres of area have been formally demarcated, and fences have been erected at more than 60 places so that encroachments do not occur again. Commissioner Malakand Abid Wazir told the media that “administration and rescue teams will be present in the field 24 hours a day throughout the division so that the operation can be made effective and sustainable.”
He said that orders have been issued to immediately erect fences on hotels located on the banks of rivers to avoid possible dangers. Moreover, the Forest and Agriculture Department has been instructed to plant saplings on the reclaimed land. According to Commissioner Abed Wazir, the scope of the operation is now being extended to commercial plazas. Strict action will also be taken against such plazas that have been constructed without parking.
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