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LAHORE, Dec 18 (APP):Minister for Local Government Zeeshan Rafique has announced that 2,613 kilometres of streets will be paved and 3,497 kilometres of sewerage lines will be laid across Punjab under the Punjab Development Programme (PDP).
He made these remarks while chairing a review meeting at the Civil Secretariat, where Project Director Brigadier (retd) Asad Mahmood briefed the participants on the progress of the programme.
The minister said that the PDP is a mega development initiative with an estimated cost of Rs 304 billion. He added that in the first phase, development schemes will be launched in 10 out of 52 cities, with an allocation of Rs 54 billion. An initial grant of Rs 7.5 billion has already been released by the Punjab government for this purpose.
Zeeshan Rafique said that Attock, Lalamusa, Layyah, Mailsi and Alipur Chatha have been included in the initial phase. Work will also commence in Khanewal, Burewala, Jaranwala, Vehari and Silanwali.
He further stated that 56 new and 61 existing disposal stations will be converted to solar energy, generating 21,000 kilowatts of electricity and saving crores of rupees in monthly electricity bills. He added that increasing the capacity of disposal stations to 2,114 cusecs would help reduce the risk of urban flooding.
The minister said that underground water storage tanks would also be constructed under the programme to conserve rainwater instead of letting it go to waste.
Highlighting the vision of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, Zeeshan Rafique said the government aims to provide essential civic facilities in 200 cities across Punjab. He noted that PDP schemes have been designed keeping in view the projected population growth of cities up to 2050.
The provincial minister directed the project director to ensure effective monitoring of all schemes and stressed that progress on every activity must be regularly updated on the dashboard, following the model of the Lahore Development Programme.