Civic facilities revival plan awaits approval

Departments line up uplift work costing Rs34b

LAHORE:

A Rs34-billion project for the rehabilitation of civic facilities in Lahore has been stalled due to lack of coordination among government departments.

Despite finalisation of the project and estimation of costs, a decision to begin the work has not been taken by the officers of the Metropolitan Corporation Lahore (MCL), WASA, public health engineering, and other departments, sources told The Express Tribune.

The city has been facing numerous problems over the past five years due to the lack of repair of roads, streets and sewerage lines, which has caused difficulties for the citizens.

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif had tasked the MCL, WASA, public health engineering, and other departments with development projects in Lahore.

She had approved allocation of Rs22 billion to the MCL and Rs12 billion to WASA for the schemes. The MCL had prepared 187 schemes and WASA 207.

The schemes were divided into zones and towns. However, the P&D department had sought approval for the schemes worth Rs34 billion, which was pending due to the lack of coordination between departments.

The deputy commissioner can approve up to Rs50 million, the commissioner up to Rs200 million and the local government secretary up to Rs400 million. Government approval is required for projects of higher amounts, the sources said.

The MCL has allocated Rs960 million for streetlights among its schemes costing Rs22 billion. However, the MCL and WASA have not sent the administrative approval for all schemes to the provincial secretary.

The Punjab government had sought to complete the schemes early, but so far no decision has been made to start the work.

Several officials expressed inability to divulge when the work would begin.

A local resident, Muhammad Ramzan, said the streets and roads of his locality had been in a state of disrepair for several years.

Acting CEO of MCL Muhammad Saqib said the corporation had completed the survey for development schemes worth Rs22 billion at the zonal level. "As soon as we receive guidance from the division concerned, we will start the development work," he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 13^th, 2024.