Punjab Province

Lahore : ReNews Pakistan
Punjab Housing Minister Bilal Yasin inaugurated the restored main entrance of Jilani Park following the completion of rehabilitation work. PHA Lahore Managing Director Ahmed Usman Javed, Additional Managing Director Rao Tasleem Akhtar and other officials were also present on the occasion.
Speaking to the media after the inauguration, Bilal Yasin said the 79th Independence Day would be celebrated across Punjab with full enthusiasm in line with the directives of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif. He said the provincial government was also focusing on improving civic facilities, parks and public spaces alongside Independence Day celebrations.
The minister said the Punjab government’s foremost priority was not political confrontation but providing relief to citizens and improving governance. He urged all political forces to give precedence to national interest, democratic traditions and political tolerance in the prevailing political environment.
He said the government’s welfare initiatives were aimed at providing tangible relief to deserving families rather than merely serving political publicity. He added that several development and public service projects were under way across Punjab, including electric bus services, road construction and rehabilitation, scholarships, hospitals, clean drinking water schemes, WASA facilities, Sahulat bazaars and Safe City cameras.
Bilal Yasin highlighted the Apni Chhat Apna Ghar programme, saying it was providing interest-free financial assistance to low-income families for the construction of their own homes. He said the initiative was designed to support families with limited incomes who otherwise lacked the financial capacity to build a house.
The minister said political stability was essential for improving the national economy, attracting investment and delivering sustainable relief to the public. Citizens, he added, wanted solutions to inflation, unemployment and deficiencies in basic services, and the government’s attention remained focused on addressing these issues.
According to Bilal Yasin, the pace of development projects across Punjab was being accelerated while efforts were also being made to ensure the transparent and effective utilisation of public resources. He said political leaders should rise above personal and party interests and prioritise the broader national interest.
He said the Punjab government would continue taking practical steps to fulfil its commitments to the people and would not allow political pressure to obstruct public service.
“Our competition is not with any political party, but with inflation, unemployment, deprivation and the problems faced by the people,” Bilal Yasin said.

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.

Lahore : Riaz Hussain ReNews Pakistan
The Lahore Development Authority (LDA) has intensified its crackdown on illegal commercial buildings, unauthorised commercial use of residential properties and commercial fee defaulters, carrying out a large scale operation across several parts of Lahore. Multiple illegal structures were demolished while a total of 81 properties were sealed during the operation.
The action was launched on the directions of LDA Director General Tahir Farooq, with teams from the authority’s Town Planning Wing conducting operations in Jubilee Town, Raiwind Road, Canal Road, Gulshan e Ravi, Shadman, New Muslim Town, Poonch Road and Allama Iqbal Town.
According to the LDA, illegally constructed shops on residential Plot No. 395-D in Jubilee Town were demolished. Illegal constructions near the Ali Town Terminal on Raiwind Road were also razed.
The authority also carried out an operation near Ring Road on Raiwind Road, where an unauthorised signboard was removed and the relevant properties were sealed.
LDA teams sealed 66 properties over unauthorised commercial use of residential premises in areas including Canal Road, Gulshan e Ravi, Shah Jamal, New Muslim Town and Poonch Road.
In a separate recovery operation, another 15 properties were sealed in Allama Iqbal Town over outstanding commercial dues, taking the total number of sealed properties to 81.
Officials said the sealed properties included private schools, colleges, academies, halls, salons, cafés, restaurants and food outlets. Grocery stores, clinics, hardware shops, electrical stores, pharmacies, other retail outlets, car showrooms and offices were also among the properties affected by the enforcement drive.
The operation was carried out under the supervision of Chief Town Planner-I Asad-uz-Zaman and Chief Town Planner-II Azhar Ali.
LDA Director General Tahir Farooq said indiscriminate action would continue across the LDA controlled area against illegal commercial buildings, unauthorised commercial use of residential properties and commercial fee defaulters.