DERA GHAZI KHAN, Feb 4: Inordinate delay in issuance of registration books for vehicles by the local excise officials has irked scores of applicants.

Sources told Dawn that the official concerned had not submitted the amount of fees which had caused delay in preparation of registration documents. The record of more than 300 files and fees was not available at the ETO office and, sources said, an inspector of the department was in possession of the documents.

A resident of Taunsa Sharif told Dawn that he had applied for registration of tractor and he could not get the copy on the date given by the department. When he contacted the ETO, he said, he was asked to come again for the purpose but he had yet to get the papers.

Another resident of Dera Ghazi Khan told this correspondent that he had been visiting the excise officials concerned for the last one month and a clerk had obtained money in excess of the prescribed fee. The department, he alleged, was concealing the scandal by delaying the issuance of registration documents on one pretext or another.

Mumtaz Mirza, the official concerned, was not available for comment because of being on leave. ETO Shafi Gashkori told Dawn that there was fault in computer and that was the reason for delay in dispensation of registration copies.

SNOWFALL: Fort Munro, a hill resort in Sulaiman range that is 85 kilometres from Dera Ghazi Khan, received heavy snowfall which disrupted the life of inhabitants of the area. The seven-inch snowfall blocked the inter-provincial traffic on Dera–Quetta Road. Besides traffic, there has been no power supply to the area for the last 24 hours. Local residents told Dawn if the snowfall continued for another two or three days, there would be an immediate need of help from the government to save people from starvation in the area.