The City District Government Lahore (CDGL) has decided to waive all local taxes and entry fees for sacrificial animals for Eid-ul-Azha coming to Lahore for 15 days and this will come into effect from December 9.
It has also decided to set up nine selling points of sacrificial animals in the provincial metropolis, including Matches Factory on GT Road, near Shahdarah, Saggian Bridge, Main Road China Scheme, Bakar Mandi on Bund Road, Shahpur, Hamdard Chowk at Township, Ghazia Abad, Peaco Road and Sherakot on Bund Road.
Under Section 144, no buying and selling of sacrificial animals would be permitted outside these allocated premises. In case of violation, the Police and Town Officer (Regulation) would confiscate the animals.
This was decided in a meeting held here on Friday and it was headed by Lahore Nazim Mian Amer Mahmood. DCO Main Ijaz, Wasa MD Pervaiz Iftikhar and senior officials of concerned local government departments and police attended the meeting as well.
Source also said the CDGL had decided that the grace period would end on December 23. The meeting also decided to bear the loss of Rs 80 million that is in routine collected by Towns under the head of local taxes and entry fee on animals.
The meeting strictly directed the concerned authorities not to collect local taxes and entry fees from the dealers of sacrificial animals, otherwise the violators would be arrested and legal action would be taken against them. "The CDGL has constituted a team comprising of both the police and Towns officials and they have been instructed to take action against mafia involved in setting up illegal check-posts for the collection of local taxes and entry fees. These measures would help in maintaining the prices of sacrificial animals," the meeting was told.
Sources said the CDGL had set up a helpline (9210614) at the office of District Office (Revenue) where the dealers of the sacrificial animals could lodge a complaint against those who make illegal demands from them and assured that a prompt action would taken on the complaint.
The city government also decided that the Towns administration would provide water, electricity and tents for the comfort of the dealers of sacrificial animals and cleanliness would be assured at the selling points. Keeping in mind of weather, the Towns administration would also set up dispensaries on-spot treatment of animals.
The city government has also made mandatory for charity organisation to attain permission from concerned towns for the collection of animal hides and no banned organisations would be given the permission in this connection.
For the cleanliness of the city, the city government has taken a number of steps, including 150 pick-ups that would collect offals from the city and dumped it at the dumping centre.