The NWFP Minister for Population Welfare, Saleem Khan has said that the provincial government would take steps at provincial and district levels to stop illegal cutting of forests in Chitral and control the smuggling of timber from Chitral to down district.
The measures would help meet the need of the local population for timber and firewood besides ensuring the preservation of environment and a resolution to this effect will soon be presented in the Provincial assembly for approval. Khan expressed these views while talking to a delegation of PF-89 Chitral, who called on him in Peshawar the other day.
The delegation headed by well-known political and social personality of the area, Haji Abdur Rehman was comprised of Burhan Shah Advocate, Nizam-ud-din Advocate, Ashraf Khan and other elite of the area.
The delegation informed the Minister that a group of influential people had been involved in illegal forest logging in Chitral for the last one year resulting in large-scale deforestation. The issue was a matter of grave concern for the local population, as forest was the only source of both timber and fuel wood for the population.