Punjab Province

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.

Lahore | ReNews Pakistan
The Punjab government and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have formally launched a joint platform to bring climate, agriculture and water information together, aiming to help the province better protect farming communities from climate shocks and increasing pressure on water resources.
The Agriculture, Climate and Water Punjab Consortium, known as the ACWA Punjab Consortium, was formally established through a memorandum of understanding signed at its first meeting in Lahore.
The initiative brings together the Punjab Planning and Development Board, Agriculture Department, Irrigation Department, Environment Protection and Climate Change Department and Punjab Information Technology Board, with FAO providing technical assistance.
The idea is to replace information scattered across different government departments with a coordinated system where officials can access climate, crop and water data through a single platform.
The system is expected to support government planning, agricultural advice for farmers, water management and decisions on how resources should be used as climate-related risks become more serious.
The programme forms part of FAO’s broader Transforming the Indus Basin with Climate Resilient Agriculture and Water Management project, supported by the Green Climate Fund and co financed by the governments of Punjab and Sindh.
A major focus of the project is South Punjab, including Multan, Khanewal, Lodhran, Muzaffargarh and Dera Ghazi Khan, where agriculture is highly dependent on weather and irrigation conditions.
Under the wider project, 24 automatic weather stations have already been installed ,15 in Punjab and nine in Sindh. Canal flow sensors, groundwater monitoring equipment and other systems have also been deployed to collect agricultural, climatic and water related information.
Information collected through these systems will be fed into the ACWA portal so that government departments can use a common source of information rather than relying on separate and fragmented datasets.
The consortium will also develop arrangements covering data sharing, secure storage, licensing and confidentiality. Participating departments will determine their responsibilities for supplying information and maintaining the system.
Authorities are also examining how the portal will be hosted and maintained after the current FAO supported project is completed, with the aim of creating a government-owned system that can continue operating over the longer term.
For Punjab’s agricultural sector, the initiative could become particularly important as farmers face increasingly unpredictable weather, changing rainfall patterns and pressure on irrigation and groundwater supplies.
By combining weather, water and crop information in one place, the government hopes to make earlier and better informed decisions that can reduce risks to crops and improve management of limited water resources.

Multan : ReNews Pakistan
The lake at Shah Shams Park in Multan is set to reopen to the public after remaining non-functional for around 15 years, as local authorities accelerate restoration work aimed at reviving one of the city's prominent recreational facilities.
The lake, which has remained closed since 2011, is being rehabilitated on a fast-track basis and is expected to become operational during the first week of September 2026.
Multan Commissioner Aamir Karim Khan inspected the ongoing development and restoration work at Shah Shams Park and directed the Horticulture Authority Multan to ensure that the remaining work on the lake is completed within the stipulated timeframe.
During the inspection, the commissioner reviewed progress on different components of the rehabilitation project and stressed that the reopening should be accompanied by adequate arrangements for public safety.
He directed officials to put comprehensive safety measures in place around the lake so that families and other visitors could use the recreational facility in a secure and comfortable environment.
The restoration represents the revival of a public amenity that has remained unavailable to residents for more than a decade. Once operational, the lake is expected to become an important part of efforts to improve recreational facilities at Shah Shams Park and attract more families and visitors.
Commissioner Aamir Karim Khan said the reopening of the lake would help restore the park's lost charm while providing citizens with an improved recreational space.
Authorities are simultaneously carrying out other development works at the park as part of the broader improvement programme.
The commissioner also inspected an under-construction cafeteria and directed the concerned officials to complete the facility by the end of August, ahead of the planned reopening of the lake.
Managing Director Horticulture Authority Multan Syed Waseem Hassan briefed the commissioner about progress on the lake restoration as well as other development works underway at Shah Shams Park.
He assured the commissioner that work on the lake would be completed within the prescribed timeframe and that the upgraded park would offer improved recreational facilities to residents.
The revival of the lake is particularly significant for Multan's urban recreational infrastructure because large public parks provide residents with accessible spaces for leisure, family activities and outdoor recreation.
After being out of operation for 15 years, bringing the lake back into use would restore an important feature of Shah Shams Park while making better use of existing public recreational infrastructure.
With the cafeteria also scheduled for completion before the lake reopens, the ongoing works are expected to improve the overall visitor experience at the park.
If the announced schedule is maintained, residents could regain access to the restored lake during the first week of September, marking the return of a recreational attraction that has remained closed since 2011.