LAHORE DIVISION

Lahore : Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has said the province's Safe City network is playing an increasingly important role in public safety, emergency response and crime prevention, with plans underway to expand the system from districts to tehsils and eventually union councils. Highlighting the use of technology in emergency situations, the chief minister said the government's monitoring systems were designed not only to protect citizens but also to respond to incidents involving animals. “Punjab is a province where not only people but animals are also protected,” she said. Maryam recalled a fire at a commercial centre where she personally monitored rescue operations on her mobile phone through Safe City cameras. Digital monitoring of the incident continued until the last person trapped inside the building had been safely rescued, she said. She also cited an incident in which a Safe City camera spotted a bird trapped in overhead wires. Rescue 1122 personnel were subsequently dispatched to the location and used a ladder to free the bird. The chief minister said such incidents demonstrated how technology could be used beyond conventional surveillance to improve emergency response and protect lives. She said Punjab had become safer as authorities increasingly relied on real time information and data for decision-making. “Punjab is awake. Decisions are no longer made in the dark but on the basis of data, helping save human lives,” Maryam said. She added that technology was also being integrated into public transport safety. Commuters facing an emergency can seek assistance by scanning QR codes installed on public transport, providing another channel for citizens to contact the authorities when help is required. Maryam said the government intended to develop a comprehensive Safe City network by extending the existing system from district headquarters to tehsils and subsequently to union councils. The expansion, she said, would take technology-based monitoring and emergency assistance closer to communities at the grassroots level. The chief minister also linked a decline in crime across Punjab with the expansion of Safe City surveillance and other government measures. Criminals, she said, were increasingly aware that “the eye of the camera is watching”. Rejecting the perception that development and technology-based public safety initiatives were concentrated only in the provincial capital, Maryam said the Safe City system would have a presence across Punjab. “Who says that work is being done only in Lahore? A Safe City will be visible in every district,” she said, adding that citizens should have confidence that the government remained alert to their safety. “The government is awake for its people,” she added.

Lahore | ReNews Pakistan The Punjab government has introduced a new procedure aimed at simplifying and accelerating the partition of jointly owned land, providing landowners with a structured mechanism to consolidate different holdings before beginning the formal division process. The new framework has been notified under the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1967, and is intended to address procedural difficulties that can arise when jointly owned land is spread across multiple holdings or involves a large number of co-owners. Under the procedure, different landholdings may first be consolidated to facilitate their subsequent partition among the respective owners. An application seeking consolidation can be submitted to the collector of the relevant subdivision. Once an application is received, the subdivision collector will immediately forward it to the concerned Circle Revenue Officer for further processing. Minimum 25% Consent Required A key requirement under the new procedure is that at least 25% of the landowners in each holding proposed for consolidation must consent to the process. The Circle Revenue Officer will be responsible for obtaining and verifying the required consent. For this purpose, the officer may seek assistance from revenue field staff, the local lambardar or other reliable sources. The consent requirement is designed to ensure that consolidation proposals have a minimum level of support among people holding ownership rights in the land before the matter proceeds further. After receiving the application, the Circle Revenue Officer will have 15 days to examine the case, complete the necessary process and prepare recommendations for the subdivision collector. The subdivision collector will then be required to forward the case, along with the recommendations, to the district collector within seven days. District Collector to Decide Within Seven Days After receiving the recommendations, the district collector will have another seven days to make a decision. The district collector will have the authority to approve the proposed consolidation of landholdings, modify the number or composition of holdings proposed for consolidation, or reject the application. This means that the administrative process leading up to the district collector's decision is intended to be completed within a total period of 29 days — 15 days at the Circle Revenue Officer level, followed by seven days at the subdivision collector level and seven days for the district collector's decision. Once consolidation is approved, the relevant revenue officer will initiate formal proceedings for the partition of the consolidated land. The new mechanism is particularly significant for jointly owned properties where fragmented holdings can complicate partition proceedings and make it difficult for individual owners to obtain clearly separated portions of land. By allowing eligible holdings to be brought together before partition, the government aims to reduce procedural complications and create a more efficient route for determining and separating ownership shares. The reform is expected to provide greater clarity for co-owners while establishing defined responsibilities and timelines for revenue officials handling consolidation and partition cases. The overall objective of the new procedure is to make the partition of jointly owned land in Punjab faster, more organised and more effective by resolving issues related to fragmented holdings before the formal division process begins.

Lahore | ReNews Pakistan The Punjab government has approved the transfer of 15,884 pending property possession complaints to newly established property tribunals across the province, marking a significant change in the mechanism for handling disputes involving alleged illegal occupation of properties. The pending complaints are currently being dealt with by deputy commissioners and dispute resolution committees. Under the government's decision, these cases, along with their complete records, will be transferred to the relevant property tribunals. The move is intended to bring thousands of unresolved property disputes under the province's amended legal framework without requiring affected citizens to restart the complaint process. No Fresh Applications Required One of the key aspects of the decision is that people who have already submitted complaints under the previous system will not be required to file new applications. Instead, their existing complaints and associated records will be forwarded to the appropriate property tribunals, which will continue proceedings in accordance with the amended law. This arrangement is expected to prevent additional procedural burdens on complainants whose cases have already remained pending before the existing authorities. Property Tribunals Take Over Key Role Under the amended legal framework, complaints concerning alleged illegal possession or occupation of property will now be dealt with by property tribunals, rather than being handled primarily by deputy commissioners. The transfer therefore represents more than an administrative relocation of case files. It shifts responsibility for a large number of property disputes to a dedicated tribunal system established specifically to deal with such matters. The Punjab Advocate General has declared the proposed transfer of pending cases legally valid and workable, clearing the way for the government to move the complaints to the new system. Lahore High Court Guidance The decision also follows guidance from the Lahore High Court concerning the treatment of complaints that were already pending when changes were made to the relevant law. According to the legal framework cited in the decision, the provincial government has the authority under Section 26 to formally transfer pending cases to the tribunals. Once transferred, the tribunals will be able to reconsider and proceed with the complaints under the revised legal framework. The mechanism is particularly important because thousands of citizens had already approached deputy commissioners and dispute resolution committees before the tribunal system assumed its expanded role. Without a transfer arrangement, complainants could potentially have faced uncertainty over whether their existing cases remained valid or whether they would have to begin proceedings again. 15,884 Cases to Enter Tribunal System With 15,884 complaints affected by the decision, the transfer will immediately place a substantial caseload before the newly established tribunals. The effectiveness of the new system will therefore depend not only on completing the administrative transfer of records but also on the tribunals' capacity to process and decide cases efficiently. Property possession disputes can have serious financial consequences for owners, buyers and investors, particularly where ownership or physical control of valuable residential, commercial or agricultural property remains contested for extended periods. The government's decision provides continuity for existing complainants while bringing their cases under the new tribunal-based mechanism. Once the transfer process is completed, citizens whose complaints were pending under the previous system will be able to pursue their cases before the relevant property tribunals without submitting fresh applications. The development represents an important step in Punjab's changing system for resolving property possession disputes, with the new tribunals now set to handle thousands of cases previously pending before administrative authorities.