SAHIWAL: Up to 177 fertiliser dealers and commission agents were fined Rs2.13 million for hoarding fertilisers and selling them at inflated rates.

Among them, 55 were booked under the law and 26 were arrested.

Agriculture Director Dr Shahbaz Akhter said over the past 20 days, 1,338 inspections were conducted in Sahiwal division.

Dr Shahbaz said that the department is actively responding to growers’ complaints, addressing public concerns about fertilizer dealers charging Rs1,000 on DAP and urea fertilisers per bag.

Dr Shahbaz said the department was conducting daily market inspections, and any fertilizer dealer attempting to charge prices above the declared control rate of Urea and DAP will not be tolerated.

POLIO CAMPAIGN: In a week-long campaign starting from Nov 27, approximately 1.534 million children up to the age of five were administered polio drops in Sahiwal division.

The campaign, which concludes on Dec 3, involves 7,653 teams covering 6.7 million.

Muhammad Ilyas Anjum, Director of Health Services, said that 524,000, 636,000, and 383,000 children up to the age of five years will be targeted in districts Sahiwal, Okara, and Pakpattan.

Special arrangements and teams are designated for public places like bus stops, railway stations, and toll plazas on main rail and road routes.

Each deputy commissioner in the three districts will personally supervise the polio drop campaign, ensuring stringent security arrangements for mobile polio teams.

Published in Dawn, November 22nd, 2023