LAHORE - The district administration is all set to launch a crackdown against those traders who are involved in adulteration, overcharging, using wrong scales to control prices of edibles during the holy month of Ramazan. The main punch would, however, remain targeted at the hoarders, TheNation has learnt. Initially, the district administration issued warnings to the traders, shopkeepers and vendors dealing in daily-use commodities across the City by hoisting banners in all the bazaars, on different important roads and in commercials areas for the awareness of the traders as the first phase of the crackdown, which would formally be started during Ramazan and is likely to be continuing for the whole month transparently. A warning-cum-awareness campaign through banners has been launched across the province and in the provincial metropolis, TMAs, Food Department and teams of labour inspectors have been given assignments to fix banners in all the markets and bazaars of the City. Authorities so far have fixed thousands of banners in each and ever bazaar, road, street and markets. District Coordination Officer Ahad Cheema constituted a number of monitoring teams for this purpose. Each team for nine towns ould work under the supervision of the Assistant Commissioners in order to take stern action by checking and squeezing the malpractices of the traders, vendors and shopkeepers such as hoarding, overcharging and adulteration. A spokesman of CDG told this scribe that the government was compelled to take such serious steps against the traders community in order to control prices of daily-use commodities especially during Ramazan because the past experience revealed that the traders community exploits the citizens by using different tactics like creating fake shortage of commodities just for increasing rates of products and for minting money on the occasion of festivals particularly during Ramazan despite the traders unions and mill owners assured the government for not creating any shortage of essential goods and increasing rates. The traders by taking advantage of this holy month and festivity of Eid use to create fake shortage of edibles like pulses, sugar, rice, dates, flour, ghee, cooking oil, fruits and vegetables, he said, adding that those found guilty of such charges and violators of the rules and regulations would not be spared at any cost and would be punished with fine and imprisonment as well. Disclosing the minutes of recent meetings with higher authorities and referring to decisions and measures taken by the district administration, he said that authorities announced 'Ramazan Package for the citizens and devotees in order to give them relief by controlling prices of daily-use products in open markets and by opening about 17 Sasta Ramazan Bazaars and 754 fair price shops in the city for the whole month where more than 27 commodities would be sold out on control rates which would be subsidized by the government. Foolproof security would also be provided to such Sasta Ramazan Bazaars.