PESHAWAR, July 10: Town-I Nazim Haroon Bilour presented a Rs188.9 million surplus budget on Wednesday for 2002-03 at the town council in the district coucil hall.

The Nazim, presenting the annual budget of the town, said Rs102,318,260 had been estimated to be spent on the services sector and Rs51,566,583 were earmarked for the non-developmental expenditure. Similarly, Rs34 million had been allocated for the uplift plans.

He said that as Peshawar had its own centuries-old civilisation, culture and traditions and was also regarded as a gateway to the South Asia, therefore, considering the dilapidated condition of its bazaars and streets, Rs94,16,000 had been reserved to renovate the city. The amount, he said, included the salaries of staff and funds to purchase new instruments.

An amount of Rs44,467,418 would be spent on the provision of potable water, salaries of the employees, purchase of new machinery, repairing of tube-wells, purchase of new pumps, and revival of the abandoned tube-wells and provision of pipe lines.

He said total 175 tube-wells were operational in the area and the town municiple administration was planning to set up more tube-wells to help end the scarcity of water in the city, excluding six which, he said, were being set up with the help of Unicef.

Another two tube-wells would be installed shortly with the assistance of the World Bank. A plan, he said, was under consideration to supply water from Warsak Dam to Peshawar.

The Nazim informed that this year Rs3.1million would be spent on the purchase of sodium lights to be set up on city streets.

The Nazim said Rs3,632,000 had been sanctioned to improve health care system of the city. This amount, he said, would be spent on the vaccination against different diseases and salaries of the employees of health department.

A dispensary and food control authority, which would ensure the availability hygienic food to the people, had already been established in the city.

He told the council that Rs70,320,000 had been earmarked to bring improvement in cleanliness and drainage system of the city. The salaries of the employees would also be paid from the this amount. It also included the fuel charges and miscellaneous expenses, he added.

He also told the council that a building control authority had been formed to stop illegal construction. He said Rs245,035 had been sanctioned for bringing effective improvement in the performance of the body.

Funds have also been allocated for the celebration of national events, sports, public library and reading rooms, welfare of women, traffic, and improvement in gardens and public parks falling in the jurisdiction of Town-I.