December 10, 2001	Monday	Ramazan 24, 1422

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TOBA TEK SINGH, Dec 9: The local tehsil municipal council has proposed 100 per cent raise in teh bazari (encroachment) fee which will be levied from July, 2001, after approval from tehsil council members.

The tehsil council has invited citizens to send their written objections, if any, before Dec 26.

Meanwhile, city’s union council No 2 Nazim has urged upon the tehsil Nazim not to raise the teh bazari fee. He informed the tehsil Nazim that Toba Tek Singh was a small town and its shopkeepers depended on the purchase of cultivators of surrounding villages. But the continuous loss to farmers due to irrigation water shortage and low rates of their crops of sugarcane, wheat and cotton over the last few years had badly affected their purchasing power, he said. That was why, he said, a number of shopkeepers had either abandoned their business or were thinking to do so.

He appealed the tehsil Nazim to withdraw the proposal so that the poor shopkeepers could run their business in teh bazari shops.

RESTORED: Some influential cultivators on Saturday night forcibly restored the irrigation water supply in Rajbah Kathore of the Jhang Branch Canal after harassing the staff on duty.

It was learnt that rajbah had been closed on the orders of the irrigation department XEN, but the staff under the threat of accused persons opened the rajbah.

The Canal SDO of Waryam area has sent a written report to Gojra Saddar police for the registration of cases against the accused farmers.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Irrigation Power Employees Union (CBA) leader Allah Bakhsh Sial has called for higher authorities to provide protection to the irrigation staff and take stern action against the accused influential farmers.