Punjab Province

The Punjab government has launched a citywide cleanliness and anti-smog campaign, “Chamkta Lahore,” to reduce airborne dust, improve sanitation and keep roads and public spaces clean.
Local Government Minister Zeeshan Rafique inaugurated the campaign at Liberty Chowk. It was launched on the directives of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif.

Under the initiative, authorities have identified 100 major roads, locations and commercial markets for targeted cleaning. The plan calls for washing around 648 kilometres of roads each week, with a daily target of 100 kilometres. The cleaning operation will use 16 mechanical washing machines for roads and 46 rickshaw-mounted washers for footpaths. Ten rickshaw-mounted anti-smog mist guns will also spray water into the air to help suppress dust particles.

Speaking to the media, Zeeshan Rafique said anti-smog measures introduced over the past two years had produced encouraging results. He claimed that smog levels in November were noticeably lower than they had been two years earlier, and said the new campaign would further improve Lahore’s air quality and cleanliness.

The minister also highlighted development projects under way across Punjab, including work on roads, healthcare, education and urban beautification. He said initiatives were being carried out in major cities and union councils to improve public facilities and residents’ quality of life.

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has approved inviting fresh applications for the Apni Chhat, Apna Ghar housing programme, as a review meeting reported progress on loan disbursements, house construction and repayments. More than 1.7 million people have registered on the programme’s online portal, the meeting was told. The scheme has disbursed over 225,000 loans, while 128,718 houses have been completed. A further 62,600 homes are nearing completion.

The briefing also reported that 171,597 beneficiaries had received the second instalment of their loans. The programme’s loan recovery rate was recorded at 97.6%, with Rs 22.29 billion recovered in instalments. The chief minister directed officials to meet the scheme’s completion targets and ensure timely progress. The programme has also received recognition from international institutions, according to the briefing.

Separately, the application process for the Apni Chhat, Mehfooz Chhat initiative has been completed. Under that programme, 3,055 applicants received loans totalling Rs 1.216 billion, and construction or expansion work on 532 houses has been completed.

The opening of Rawalpindi Ring Road to traffic has been delayed by at least another month as construction continues on toll plazas and weighing stations, according to a senior district administration official.

The official said the provincial government would announce an inauguration date after the remaining facilities were completed. The work could take a month or longer, as construction and installation are still under way and procurement of weighing equipment has not been completed.

Authorities plan to establish eight weighing stations to measure heavy vehicles and calculate their toll charges. Construction is expected to take two to three weeks, after which teams will install the weighing machines. The Punjab Ring Road Authority will then need about two weeks to install the Intelligent Transportation System and Electronic Toll Collection system. Sensors will weigh trucks and determine the toll payable.

Toll plaza booths are also being built at Baanth and Thalian. The official said the road would open to both heavy and light traffic once the facilities became operational. Offices for the Punjab Ring Road Authority and residential accommodation for its officials are also being established.
Work on the Thalian interchange is expected to start after the road opens, with completion targeted for December, the official said.

The Ring Road has a design speed of 120 kilometres per hour, six lanes, controlled access, five interchanges and a 90-metre right of way. Its infrastructure includes bridges over the Soan and Sill rivers, 12 bridges across nullahs and roads, a railway bridge near Baanth and 11 overpasses.
The project’s original plan, developed during the PTI government, envisaged a 68-kilometre route. Work was halted following a financial scandal, after which authorities approved a revised 38.3-kilometre alignment from Baanth to Thalian.
Then-prime minister Imran Khan laid the project’s foundation stone in March 2022. The Pakistan Democratic Movement government later suspended the project temporarily, then authorized work after a third-party validation of the revised route.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif laid the foundation stone at Rawat on August 8, 2023.