A statement issued on Thursday by Additional Municipal Commissioner Deepak Kapoor stated that 42 huge boxes of Prabhat Jarda Ratanchaap Jafhrani gutkha packets, 22 boxes of Babul jarda and nine sacks of Goa and Star gutkha packets were seized from Sandeep Mangde who was transporting the consignment sent from Shakti Enterprises, Delhi to traders based at Budhwar Peth - N B Stores, Hitesh Stores, Mahesh Traders and B Lal and Sons.

The traders had evaded octroi charges amounting to Rs 28,000 following which the department slapped a compounding fee of Rs 2.50 lakh. The squad had only recently seized gutkha packets worth Rs 3 lakh from the errant traders, Kapoor stated.

Pulse polio
Nearly 83,000 children up to the age of five years in Pimpri-Chinhcwad will be administered the anti-polio vaccine, as part of the pulse polio drive conducted throughout the country on December 6.

The Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation assisted by several voluntary organisations has made plans to set up 244 centres in the five divisions at Akurdi, Bhosari, Sant Tukaramnagar, Pimpri and Chinchwad for administering the vaccine. A mobile van for giving the polio dose has also been made available for each of the divisions.

More than 1100 persons, will be involved in the work of administering the anti-polio vaccine at various schools, anganwadi centres, private and civic health centres. Public awareness for administering the vaccine is being made through posters, banners, and rallies by school children.