Editor
HARIPUR:
Tourism actions at Khanpur Dam have come to a standstill after the Assistant Commissioner and Tehsil Municipal Officer (TMO) halted all water sports activities as a result of unpaid taxes. As a consequence, the Tehsil Municipal Administration (TMA) and police have sealed off all water sports activities services, leaving vacationers and native companies in a troublesome place.
Boats Association at Khanpur Dam President Raja Hanif Ahsan Kayani defined that the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) had instructed the affiliation to cease paying taxes to the TMA, resulting in the present standoff. In response, the assistant commissioner of Khanpur, TMO, and police have taken management of the water sports activities gear and warned the affiliation members of authorized motion if taxes stay unpaid.
They additionally threatened the affiliation’s members, warning that in the event that they did not pay taxes, they might be barred from conducting water sports activities and face authorized motion. Kayani harassed, “If your complete Khanpur Dam is closed, the place will the vacationers go? This will lead to a whole halt in tourism actions, leading to job losses for the native individuals.”
The state of affairs has sparked protests from vacationers, who’ve travelled lengthy distances to benefit from the dam’s leisure actions, solely to search out them abruptly shut down. Visitors have referred to as the closure an injustice, urging the administration to rethink and permit water sports activities to proceed.
Hanif lamented that the continuing dispute between WAPDA and TMA Khanpur is severely harming his affiliation. He defined that the land on the banks of Khanpur Dam is owned by the Dam Administration, which has explicitly instructed them, by way of a proper letter, to chorus from paying taxes and duties to TMA Khanpur, and as a substitute, to pay taxes to WAPDA. Hanif described the state of affairs as weird, discovering himself caught between two authorities entities. He warned that TMA Khanpur’s determination to shut the vacationer spot wouldn’t solely trigger inconvenience for the guests but additionally end in unemployment for a whole bunch of households, regardless that hundreds of thousands of rupees in taxes have already been paid.
Additionally, vacationers have been voicing their complaints concerning the lack of services on the dam. Hanif expressed his helplessness, questioning what extra they might do and the place they need to flip, as neither the deputy commissioner nor the GM of WAPDA has been in a position to resolve the problem.
When contacted, administration revealed that the assistant commissioner of Khanpur and the tehsil municipal officer, accompanied by police, have taken drastic measures at Khanpur Dam concerning the tax situation however have been stopped from seizing boats and taking possession of parasailing gear.
Given the gravity of the state of affairs, officers from the Boat Association have been summoned to the administration’s workplace for negotiations.
Locals identified that whereas personal firms like Walls Ice Cream have put in benches and dustbins at Khanpur Dam to facilitate vacationers, TMA Khanpur has been gathering taxes from jetty house owners for companies like boating, parasailing, and parking, however has failed to supply any facilities. Instead, personal firms have needed to step in to supply these services.
Negotiations between the Boats Association and the administration are underway, with Hanif expressing cautious optimism for a decision.
In response to the ban imposed by the AC and TMO, the in-charge of the Khanpur Dam Project has taken authorized motion towards TMA Khanpur. WAPDA alleges that TMA Khanpur collected unlawful taxes from the dam and its adjoining land, amounting to Rs11.4 million from 2021 to 2024.
The Consumer Court in Haripur has ordered TMA Khanpur to stop tax assortment from Khanpur Dam and its adjoining land. The court docket has additionally summoned TMO, TOR, and the top of the tax department to current all data from 2021 to 2024 by August 30, 2024.
