1,802 villages to be upgraded with WB help

LAHORE:Punjab Local Government Minister Zeeshan Rafiq has pledged that the Punjab government will complete such projects that prove to be national assets.

He was presiding over a meeting held at the Civil Secretariat in which the progress of the programme for providing municipal services in selected villages was reviewed. Local Government Secretary Shakeel Ahmed Mian and Special Secretary Asia Gul also attended the meeting. Punjab Rural Municipal Services Company (PRMSC) CEO Asadullah briefed the meeting.

LG Minister Zeeshan Rafiq said that in the first phase, 1,802 villages of 16 tehsils will be upgraded with the support of the World Bank. ‘In this regard, a survey of the needs of these villages has been conducted, while model municipal services have been provided in 200 villages’, he said. He said that with the support of the World Bank, water supply, sewerage and paved street projects will be completed in backward villages.

‘The tehsils of Bahawalnagar, Khairpur Tamewali, Kahrore Pakka, Shujaabad, Alipur, Taunsa Sharif, Liaquatpur, Rojhan, Kallar Kahar, Noorpur Thal, Esakhel, Kot Momin, Darya Khan, Bhuana, Ahmedpur Sial and Pakpattan are included in the first phase of this programme.

The minister disagreed with the proposal from the PRMSC to build piped drains in the villages saying that due to the culture of cattle farming in the rural society, closed drains with dung can create problems. He directed the CEO of PRMSC to take up the matter with the World Bank and emphasised the construction of open drains. ‘Pumping stations and tube-wells should be solarized, while town mapping should be made mandatory before the start of development schemes’, he directed.

The minister ordered the PRMSC to shift to e-tendering directing the Special Secretary to contact the authorities concerned. He observed that after the launching of Suthra Punjab programme, solid waste component should be removed from the rural development project because sanitation has already been arranged in every village.