CM forms body to oversee Punjab cities' uplift programme
LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has formed a provincial steering committee headed by Punjab Local Government Minister Zeeshan Rafiq to oversee the cities development programme.
Among the other members are Special Assistant to the Chief Minister Zeeshan Malik and Punjab Local Government Secretary Shakeel Ahmed Mian. The steering committee established at the provincial level will also take necessary decisions in consultation with the local elected representatives while the steering committee in each district will also work under the chairmanship of the deputy commissioner.
Punjab Local Government Minister Zeeshan Rafiq's disclosed this during his visit to the Punjab Municipal Development Fund Company (PMDFC) to review the progress on the programme on Monday. Punjab Local Government Secretary Shakeel Ahmed Mian and Additional Secretary Ahmar Sohail Kaifi were also present. On this occasion, PMDFC MD Syed Zahid Aziz gave a briefing on the cities development programme.
On this occasion, he said the survey for development works has been completed in all the small and big cities of the 35 districts of Punjab.
'This is another mega project of the Punjab government, under which the construction and repair of sewerage, drainage, rainwater storage, parks and streets in urban areas will be completed, while the drainage system will be converted to solar energy,' he added.
He observed that the chief minister is following the province's policy of uniform development; in the first phase, 59 cities will be upgraded, and in the second phase, 110 cities will be upgraded. He averred that the project which is devised with the support of the World Bank will end the problems of basic services in cities that have been going missing for years.
'The chief minister has ordered the completion of the project in 50 cities by next year. The PMDFC should complete the PC-1 of each city during the current month, and the steering committee established at the provincial level will also take necessary decisions in consultation with the local elected representatives,' he added.
He averred that a drainage by-system is being introduced in every city for the first time, laying special sewer lines will protect groundwater from possible contamination.
On this occasion, the secretary, while directing to keep in mind the model of Lahore Development Programme, said that most of the available human resources will be utilised for the cities development programme and only new recruitment will be made for essential posts. He expressed his determination that the entire project will be completed within two years, which will meet the municipal needs of the cities for the next 25 years.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Express Tribune
6 hours ago
- Express Tribune
Water disaster in making
Listen to article India's obsession to settle scores with Pakistan is going over the board. It seems to be completely unmindful of international commitments as well as norms of diplomacy and neighbourhood. Home Minister Amit Shah's threat not to restore the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) with Islamabad, and continue to divert the water flowing to Pakistan to other Indian states is a step beyond foolishness, and speaks of the BJP coterie's tendency of playing to the gallery. Such suspension is not possible under the nomenclature of the World Bank and global conventions for a lower riparian state. Delhi is also trying to influence nature by forcefully diverting the surplus flow from the three western rivers of the Indus water system, and by mulling construction of a 113km long canal on its pathway. Pakistan is already suffering from water stress since India has taken this bizarre unilateral step. Islamabad's call to talk it out in the backdrop of the recent four-day war has fallen on deaf ears. The stand-off, nonetheless, has also attracted some domestic interplay as Omar Abdullah, Occupied Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister, has vented his anger over the flawed strategy of diverting water from his state, while it is in the midst of a drought. This row is, sooner than later, going to become an intra-state ordeal, mounting a climatic catastrophe in the region. To what extent is Delhi willing to go with the tide of anger and invite disaster on its own riverine system as well as hydropower installations is anybody's guess. As for Pakistan, it seeks a dialogue with India so as to discuss all irritants in bilateralism. That is why it was receptive to the mediation brokered by US President Donald Trump, and is willing to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize too in recognition of his diplomatic strides. The only way ahead for India is to desist from escalating the situation and resort to logic in the water domain. The flimsy conception of holding back water from the glaciers for long in its north is an assured precursor to disaster.
Business Recorder
12 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Pakistan condemns India's rejection of Indus Waters Treaty, warns of dangerous precedent
Pakistan's Foreign Office issued a strongly worded statement today condemning Indian Home Minister Amit Shah's declaration that New Delhi would 'never restore' the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), calling it a blatant violation of international law and a threat to regional stability. The rebuke comes amid escalating tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbors over water-sharing rights, a long-standing flashpoint in their fraught relationship. India says it will never restore Indus water treaty with Pakistan In its official response, the Foreign Office spokesperson emphasized the treaty's legal sanctity, stating, 'The Indus Waters Treaty is not a political arrangement, but an international treaty with no provision for unilateral action.' The statement accused India of 'brazen disregard' for its obligations under the 1960 World Bank-brokered agreement, which governs the sharing of the Indus River system's waters between the two countries. 'India's illegal announcement to hold the Treaty in abeyance constitutes a clear violation of international law, the provisions of the Treaty itself, and the fundamental principles governing inter-state relations,' the spokesperson asserted. The statement further warned that such conduct 'sets a reckless and dangerous precedent' and undermines global trust in treaty-based diplomacy. The Foreign Office also condemned what it termed the 'weaponization of water for political ends,' a pointed reference to Shah's remarks, which were made ahead of elections in India's Bihar state, where water-sharing disputes have long been a contentious issue. 'This irresponsible behavior contradicts established norms of responsible state behavior,' the spokesperson added, demanding that India 'immediately rescind its unilateral and unlawful stance.' Pakistan reaffirmed its commitment to the treaty and vowed to 'take all necessary measures' to safeguard its water rights, hinting at potential diplomatic or legal recourse. The Indus Waters Treaty, signed in 1960, has survived multiple wars and crises but has faced mounting strain in recent years.
Express Tribune
a day ago
- Express Tribune
WB, IMF climate snub 'worrying': COP29 presidency
Participating world leaders and delegates pose for a family photo during the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku. Photo: AFP The hosts of the most recent UN climate talks are worried international lenders are retreating from their commitments to help boost funding for developing countries' response to global warming. This anxiety has grown as the Trump administration has slashed foreign aid and discouraged US-based development lenders like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund from focussing on climate finance. Developing nations, excluding China, will need an estimated $1.3 trillion a year by 2035 in financial assistance to transition to renewable energy and climate-proof their economies from increasing weather extremes. But nowhere near this amount has been committed. At last year's UN COP29 summit in Azerbaijan, rich nations agreed to increase climate finance to $300 billion a year by 2035, an amount decried as woefully inadequate. Azerbaijan and Brazil, which is hosting this year's COP30 conference, have launched an initiative to plug the shortfall that includes expectations of "significant" contributions from international lenders. But so far only two — the African Development Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank — have responded to a call to engage the initiative with ideas, said COP29 president Mukhtar Babayev. "We call on their shareholders to urgently help us to address these concerns," he told climate negotiators at a high-level summit in the German city of Bonn this week. "We fear that a complex and volatile global environment is distracting" many of those expected to play a big role in bridging the climate finance gap, he added. His team travelled to Washington in April for the IMF and World Bank's spring meetings hoping to find the same enthusiasm for climate lending they had encountered a year earlier. But instead they found institutions "very much reluctant now to talk about climate at all", said Azerbaijan's top climate negotiator Yalchin Rafiyev. This was a "worrisome trend", he said, given expectations these lenders would extend the finance needed in the absence of other sources. "They're very much needed," he said. The United States, the World Bank's biggest shareholder, has sent a different message. On the sidelines of the April spring meetings, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urged the bank to focus on "dependable technologies" rather than "distortionary climate finance targets." This could mean investing in gas and other fossil fuel-based energy production, he said. Under the Paris Agreement, wealthy developed countries — those most responsible for global warming to date — are obligated to pay climate finance to poorer nations. AFP
