SIALKOT, April 1: A sexagenarian woman died of cholera while more than 13 people have been suffering from the disease in Katehra village near Head Marala.

Reports said that Naziran Bibi (60) died while 13 people, including women and children, were admitted to the Government Allama Iqbal Memorial Hospital with severe diarrhoea.

The condition of Haji Muhammad Hussain (56), Nazia (25), Shazia (27), Nadeem Abbas (28), Kausar Bibi (25) and Fiza (22) was stated to be critical at hospital.

A Sialkot EDO (Health) office spokesman told newsmen on Thursday that more than 300 of the 1,500 residents of Katehra village had been given anti-cholera vaccination so far.

The remaining were being vaccinated by the health department. He said that the poor sanitary conditions spread cholera in the village. "The situation is now under control," the spokesman said.

ROAD ACCIDENT: Three workers of a factory died while 12 others were injured in a road accident on Sialkot-Sambrial-Wazirabad Road. Reports said that the factory's vehicle rammed into a roadside tree when its driver lost control over the steering near Uggoki.

Shafiq, Hamid and Nazim Hussain died on the spot while 12 other workers were injured. The condition of Tanvir, Aamir, Shakil, Shehzad, Irfan, Asif and Abid was stated to be critical at hospital.

TRADERS: Industrialists and exporters have criticized various government departments for causing delay in solution to their genuine problems. Talking to this correspondent on Thursday, they said the local exporters were contributing no less then $750 million annually to the national exchequer, but they were facing numerous problems in getting their problems solved.

They have appealed to Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali to take special interest in their problems and order early implementation of the development schemes to ensure industrial growth.

When contacted, Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Tahir Majid Kapur pointed out some of the problems being faced by the exporters. He urged the government and the Export Promotion Bureau to announce a special package of incentives for pulling surgical industry out of the financial crisis caused by increase in the prices of pig iron and steel sheets.

Meanwhile, Markazi Anjuman Tajraan chairman Haji Ghulam Mujtaba Mehr has regretted that the money being paid by the Sialkot exporters to the government was not being spent on welfare projects.

Urs: The annual Urs of Hazrat Pir Murad Ali Shah will begin here on Friday (today). Punjab ministers Ajmal Cheema, Chaudhry Armughan Subhani, Syed Akhtar Husain Rizvi and Sialkot District Nazim Mian Naeem Javaid would formally inaugurate the Urs by performing ghusal ceremony in the evening.

Hundreds of thousands of devotees from all over the country will participate in the three-day celebrations which include Mahafil-i-Qira'at, Na'at and Samma.