or the last few weeks, the city administration has been discussing the subject of Sheesha cafes to eliminate the problem through an effective strategy.

`How to stop students from smoking Sheesha and get this heinous business completely closed?` was the question in various meetings held at the Town Hall and other official places.

The officials say it was observed in various raids conducted by the various town municipal administrations that a majority of customers of Sheesha cafes are the students aged between 15 and 20 years.

The idealhoursfor the studentsmainly from the elite class -to visit Sheesha cafes are the break timings of schools and colleges.

The owners of Sheesha cafes are also from the elite. In a recent raid conducted by the Gulberg Town Municipal Administration at a plaza at Mini Market, the Sheesha café owner was a woman.

`For the last few weeks, we have taken up this issue very seriously after we learnt during variousraids thatthe studentsare the main customers of Sheesha cafes,` says a senior official of the City District Government of Lahore (CDGL).

The official, considered to be an integral part of CDGL`s special drives against Sheesha, said that in various meetings heldfrom time to time, the participants` main focus was to devise an effective strategy to stop the students visiting Sheesha cafes besides intensifying the drive against them.

Under a new strategy, it has been decided to also take the headmasters/principles of the schools and colleges on board in order to ensure controlling the students during break timings. It, the official said, had also been learnt that the students visiting such cafes also used to apply for half-day leave on various pretexts.

`In such a situation, the heads of the institutions will be asked to investigate the students` pleas for half leaves by contacting their parents on telephone,` the ofHcial said, adding that theCDGL`s education wing had been asked to not only take stakeholders on board but also increase awareness on harms of Sheesha smoking among the students.

On the other hand, he said, the officials of Gulberg, Ravi, Iqbal, Aziz Bhatti, Wagah, Samanabad, Nishtar, Shalimar and Data Ganj Bakhsh towns and the environment department had been given a clear message to get the Sheesha business closed and make Lahore Sheesha-free by any means.

`The cafes make oxygen shots available to their customers which are prohibited under the section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code just as the Sheesha smoking. The oxygen shots can only be given at hospi-tals and approved clinics,` the official said.

He said during the raids last month, five Sheesha cafes were sealed in Gulberg, Samanabad, Sanda and Tajpura areas and 41 suspects, including a woman, were arrested.

The official termed the parents` role vital for keeping the youth away from Sheesha or any other sort of smoking.

I he Lahore Development Authority(LDA)hashanded over the control of its two major parking sites Park and Ride Plaza in Liberty (Gulberg) and the Moon Market (Iqbal Town) to the Lahore Parking Company (LPC). Thedecision to this affect has been taken to get these sites regulated by the LPC, a CDGL`s subsidiary.

According to sources, the LPC administration has also established offices there in order to not only monitor the parl(ing affairs of these sites but also decrease public complaints concerning overcharging, etc.

`Under an agreement, the LPC will regulate the sites by collecting fee and minimising the public complaints. In return, the LPC will deposit the revenue to the LDA after deducting various charges incurred on the administrative and functional affairs,` an official told Dawn. He said the decision would help the government resolve various issues related to parking.