Administrative restrictions on Chitral mining have brought local extraction to a halt and left thousands of workers without pay, according to the Chitral Mine Owners Association, which has appealed for an immediate easing of the rules.
Bashir Ahmad Khan, senior vice president of the association, spoke at a packed press conference at the Chitral Press Club. He asked the governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the provincial minerals minister and secretary, and the corps commander in Peshawar to intervene, calling the curbs stringent and unnecessary and warning of a growing economic and humanitarian strain in the district.
Why sites have stopped
Mr Khan said the rules have undermined a sector that supports regional development, jobs and poverty reduction in Chitral. Thousands of families depend on mining for their livelihoods, he said, and many residents work as daily-wage labourers.
Operations at several sites have stopped under the sudden enforcement of strict regulations, leaving those workers without a source of income. The pressure has intensified, he said, because of a ban on transporting legally extracted green-mining materials—minerals taken out without explosives and by methods presented as environmentally lighter—beyond the district.
That transport ban has disrupted the supply chain and cut off wages for thousands of daily earners, according to the association. Local elders have voiced alarm that a prolonged blockade could deepen hardship and lead to food shortages in the mountainous valley.
NOCs and investor worries
Mr Khan also objected to new clearance rules, especially mandatory No Objection Certificates (NOCs)—formal approvals—from several government departments, including the district administration. He argued that the multi-step process is slow and complicated, delaying the movement of extracted minerals to markets elsewhere in Pakistan and making operations harder to sustain.
Businesses that have put money into Chitral’s mineral sector are also uneasy. The association said local and international investors have spent heavily on machinery, workforce management and long-term mineral leases in resource-rich parts of the district.
Mr Khan stressed that Chitral mining still has untapped scope to support growth, employment and living standards in a poor region, if the current standstill is resolved.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Chitral mein mining par sakht pabandiyan lag gai hain. Hazaron mazdooron ki rozana ki kamai ruk gayi hai. Minerals bahar bhejne par rok aur NOC ki lambi process kaam rok rahi hai. Agar yeh rukawat lambi chali to logon ki rozmarra ki mushkilat aur barh sakti hai.
