The Punjab Provincial Development Working Party (PPDWP) approved two development schemes of urban development and P&D sectors with an estimated cost of Rs 15086.558 million. These schemes were approved in the 39th meeting of PPDWP of current fiscal year 2016-17 presided over by the Punjab Chairman P&D Board Muhammad Jehanzeb Khan. Provincial Secretary P&D Iftikhar Ali Sahoo, members of the Planning & Development Board, provincial secretaries concerned and other senior representatives of the relevant Provincial Departments also attended the meeting.
The approved development schemes included: extension of water resources for Faisalabad City Phase-II at the cost of Rs 14761.04 million and Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS), Punjab 2016-17 (PC-II) at the cost of Rs 325.518 million. Sources told Business Recorder that the Punjab government considers urban development as a means of improving the standard of living of urban population. Urban development is a component of the Punjab Growth Strategy that features "Cities as engines of growth."
The Punjab government aims to achieve objectives of urban development sector by focusing on provision of adequate and efficient urban services in cities, providing enabling environment, ensuring better legal, institutional and institutional frameworks for empowered, responsive, efficient and accountable government entities and strategic regional planning in Punjab to cater for growth of economic regions, the sources added.
The sources said the government endeavours to make urbanisation process sustainable in case of Punjab by building inclusive urban communities, promoting investment culture in cities, regenerating poor urban localities, improving accessibility and incorporating climate-change effects in the infrastructure development projects.
In the Punjab budget for the FY 2016-17, Rs 16.7 billion have been allocated for urban development which included Rs 11.372 billion for ongoing schemes and Rs 5.328 billion for new schemes. Moreover, Rs 1 billion have been provided for other development initiatives. Out of total 106 numbers of schemes, 67 numbers of schemes with cost of Rs 27.651 billion would be completed during 2016-17.
Targets and major initiatives fixed for 2016-17 included construction of flyover at Kacha Jail Road, Lahore, provision of sewerage system for UC-117,118 and 120 Lahore, replacement of outlived, deeper and inadequate water supply lines with HDPE Pipes, Lahore (Gastro Phase-II), Lahore, construction of RCC conduit sewer from Shoukat Khannum Hospital Chowk to SattuKatla Drain, Lahore, restoration of original cross section (40 feet) of SattuKatla Drain from Ferozepur road to Peco road, Lahore, rehabilitation of airport road from Ammar chowk to Karal chowk, Rawalpindi, rehabilitation/ improvement of Rawal road from Airport road to Chandni chowk, Rawalpindi, construction of Metalled road adjacent Abbade Link roads 20-km with drains and construction of Metalled road from N-70 km No 74 to Fort Munro.
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