SHANGLA: The Alpuri tehsil administration on Wednesday issued notices to the owners of houses and commercial buildings to remove the drains emptying into rivers within three days. On the directives of Shangla deputy commissioner Fawad Khan, Alpuri assistant commissioner Mohammad Hamid Siddiqui visited hotels, restaurants and other commercial and residential buildings, and directed their owners to remove the drainage pipelines, which were found to be connected to the rivers. He said the waste discharge into rivers was a violation of the law as it was causing environmental pollution and spreading water-borne diseases. When contacted, Mr Siddiqui told Dawn that in first phase he had given a three-day deadline to the owners of the buildings to remove the drain pipes, and in case of noncompliance they would face legal action. Meanwhile, the Alpuri assistant commissioner on Wednesday recovered Rs2 million from a franchise, which it had illegally collected from 16 retailers of Benazir Income Support Programme. He told Dawn that upon complaints from BISSP beneficiaries, he called the BISP retailers’ union president to his office and inquired into the alleged illegal deductions made from the stipends of beneficiaries. Mr Siddiqui said the union president told him that retailers were made to pay security fee to franchises, which they deducted from amounts of beneficiaries. He said over Rs2 million had been returned to the retailers, who were asked not to make any deductions from the money disbursed to the beneficiaries. “We have changed the mechanism of BISP disbursements, barring the retailers from making deductions from the stipend,” he said. However, he said franchises charged the so-called security fee from retailers under a ‘deal’, and the retailers made up for the money by making illegal deductions from the stipends of BISP beneficiaries, which is illegal,” the AC said. He said he had warned the retailers and franchises not to indulge in illegal activity in future. : Chairmen of four village councils on Wednesday took oath of their offices. They had won the offices during the local body by-elections held on October 20 in different tehsils of the district. The oath-taking ceremony was held at the district election office in Alpuri. District election officer Inayatullah Khan took oath from the newly-elected village council chairmen, according to a notification issued by the election commission.