WASA, MCL to implement Lahore restoration work

Third-party audit to be conducted of 770 schemes

LAHORE:

The Rs137 billion Lahore Restoration Project Management Unit has been dissolved and the Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) and the Metropolitan Corporation Lahore (MCL) will now handle the 770 development schemes.

According to officials, an allocation of Rs35 billion has been approved for the development schemes to construct roads and streets, improve sewage system, water supply lines, tube wells and neighborhoods.

Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif had been briefed by WASA and the metropolitan corporation about the city's broken roads, streets, street lights, sewage systems and water supply lines.

As a result, approval has been granted for development schemes with costs totaling Rs137 billion, with Rs59 billion allocated for the metropolitan corporation and Rs78 billion for WASA.

WASA will lay sewage and water supply lines at various locations throughout the city, beyond areas falling under its jurisdiction, to reduce complaints of waterlogging in the city's neighborhoods during the rainy season.

The work will be part of the 770 development schemes planned. The Punjab government initially decided to establish unit under the PMU to oversee the development schemes. The approval process for the schemes had begun, but now the government has revised its decision. According to sources, an announcement is expected soon about which organisations will handle the development work.

The sources said it was likely that WASA and the Metropolitan Corporation Lahore would undertake the work on their respective schemes and will also be responsible for them. The development projects will undergo a third-party audit.