Miners in Chitral want govt to abolish NOC condition

CHITRAL: The Chitral Mines and Minerals Association on Wednesday asked the government to abolish the condition of the no-objection certificate (NOC) for mining in the border areas of the district

Speaking at a press conference, the office-bearers of the association, Liaqat Ali, Bashir Ahmad Khan, Ashfaq Ali Khan, Naeem-ud-Din, Mohammad Rafi and others said the government should provide 25 kilogram of explosives for mining sites instead of the five kilogram so that the mining activities continued unabated. They said that besides increasing the quantity of the explosives, these should be provided on a daily basis instead of weekly basis. The association office-bearers said the government was not using the NOCs for mining in Arsoon and other border areas in the name of security.

They said that the Chinese companies were working in the mining sector across the border in Afghanistan, adding that there was no issue of security in Chitral, therefore, the government should issue the NOCs. They said that hundreds of people would become jobless in Chitral if the mining sector was closed, adding the government was earning billions of revenue from this sector. The office-bearers said that though the government had issued 183 licenses for mining in Chitral, currently mining was taking place at only 12 sites due to a host of reasons.