35k subsidised flats to be built in city, says CM

Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar has claimed that the promise of providing roof to the people would be fulfilled as up to 35,000 subsidised apartments would be constructed in Lahore at a cost of Rs180 billion.

He stated this during a meeting with Minister of State for Housing and Works Muhammad Shabbir Ali Qureshi, who met him at his office to discuss matters of mutual interest on Friday.

The provincial chief executive further said that the construction of 4,000 apartments was being started in the first phase, adding that business-friendly reforms in the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) had yielded positive results.

The amendments to the LDA building and zoning regulations would encourage the construction of high-rise buildings to attract huge investment while creating job opportunities, the chief minister added. Meanwhile, the approval of buildings' maps was now granted in 30 days while the provincial government was following the policy of composite development in backward and remote areas like Kot Addu, added the CM.

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The housing minister appreciated the balanced development vision of the provincial government, adding that the approach was visible across the Punjab. Punjab Housing Minister Asad Khokhar was also present on the occasion.

Earlier, Buzdar chaired a meeting at the Punjab Institute of Quran and Seerah Studies and inspected its various sections. Planning and Development Board (P&D) chairman, information secretary and others were also present in the meeting. The CM directed the authorities concerned that an independent monitoring unit be organised to protect Auqaf properties from illegal possession along with its geo-tagging.

“A fool-proof mechanism soon be devised for continuous monitoring of Auqaf properties and unlawful possessions be immediately retrieved from squatters,” he said.

The CM instructed the Auqaf department to make the best use of its resources and said that the Quran and Ulema boards should be up and running. “The historically important buildings of shrines will be revamped in collaboration with Walled City Authority,” the CM said.

The meeting also discussed the proposal of setting up bank counters for receiving donations at the shrines of Sufi saints.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 2^nd, 2021.