Lahore set to have two districts

Chief secretary forms committee headed by senior Board of Revenue member

LAHORE:

In view of the growing population of the provincial capital, the authorities have decided to divide Lahore into two districts to better manage the administrative and financial matters of the city.

According to urban planning experts, the initiative would help solve the problems of the people and also boost business activities in various sectors.

The Punjab government has given the officials concerned the deadline of December 10 to prepare a proposal in this regard. The final approval will be given by the chief minister of Punjab.

Lahore city, which has an estimated population of over 12.5 million, is facing increasing problems due to lack of coordination among departments and shortage of resources to cope with the expanding administrative matters.

After the expansion of the city, the citizens have to travel to the offices of the district administration at a considerable distance from their areas for routine official tasks, which also results on wastage of their time.

After the Punjab government decided to divide the Lahore administration on the lines of Karachi, the chief secretary formed a committee headed by Senior Member Board of Revenue Babar Hayat Tarar to work on the proposal. The committee comprising the commissioner and deputy commissioner Lahore along with other officers, including those from the revenue department and police, will submit its report to the chief secretary by December 10 after studying the financial and administrative aspects of the move.

Two meetings have already been held in this regard, which were presided over byBabar Hayat Tarar. Initially, it was proposed that Lahore should be divided into four administrative areas like the initial division of Karachi, but Commissioner Lahore Division Zulfiqar Ali Ghuman rejected the proposal because of the higher number of officers and resources required to implement it.

The majority of officers agreed to divide the district into two parts named Lahore City and Saddar.

According to sources, it has been proposed that Ferozwala tehsil of Sheikhupura district would also be included in a district of Lahore. With the addition of Ferozwala tehsil, the two districts will consist of three tehsils each.

A formula for dividing the city along the Lahore Canal or Mall Road was presented in a meeting.

The commissioner has directed the revenue officers in Lahore to work on the distribution of the jurisdictions of Patwaris and circles. Deliberations on the issue have been started along with the distribution of resources in the metropolitan corporation, police and other departments.

It has been proposed that Ferozwala, city and Shalimar tehsil will comprise one district, while Model Town, Raiwind and Cantonment tehsils will be included in the second district.

Consultations are underway to thresh out the details of the proposals.

After the partition of Lahore, there will be one commissioner, two deputy commissioners, two district police officers, two additional commissioners revenue and two additional commissioners general in the provincial capital along with other officers.

In addition, there will be distribution of office buildings and other assets, on which the relevant officers are working.

When contacted, the senior member Board of Revenue confirmed that Lahore would be divided administratively and financially into two parts. He said the administrative reorganization was necessary to address the problems caused by the growing population of the city.

He said the move would help solve the problems of the citizens in their vicinity. Having two districts will improve development process in the areas along with other benefits.

Commissioner Lahore Zulfiqar Ghuman said meetings and exchange of information were underway among the officers in this regard. “Soon we will come up with a formula for dividing Lahore andl present it to the chief secretary,” he added.

 

 

Published in The Express Tribune, November 23^rd, 2020.