FAISALABAD:The district administration recovered 1,800 bags of urea fertiliser from hoarders in tehsil city, sealed shops of four dealers and got cases registered against others on the charge of selling fertiliser in black.
A spokesman for the administration said here on Sunday that assistant commissioners checked shops of 51 fertiliser dealers in the district and imposed Rs 131,000 fine on them for overcharging customers.
Deputy Commissioner (DC) Ali Anan Qamar said that crackdown was launched on those dealers who were charging excessive price of fertiliser or were involved in its black marketing of the commodity.
A spokesman for the Agriculture Department said that under supervision of Director Agriculture Extension Chudhary Abdul Hameed, 20 teams had also been constituted for checking availability of urea to farmers.
Earlier, Divisional Commissioner Madam Silwat Saeed chaired a meeting and asked the administration of four districts for strict action against hoarders of fertilisers. She checked the record of available fertiliser in the division and made it clear that no one would be allowed to exploit farmers. She also ordered to implement the fixed price mechanism. In this regard, assistant commissioners and agriculture officers should inspect shops of fertiliser dealers regularly.
She also directed the deputy commissioners to ensure effective implementation of the price control mechanism and said that the rate list of all essential items should be displayed at conspicuous places in the shops.