33,124-kanal state land retrieved in Gujranwala

GUJRANWALA: Commissioner Zulfiqar Ahmad Ghumman Thursday said some 33,124 kanal state land worth over Rs 27 billion had been retrieved from influential land grabbers during the ongoing operation against squatters across the division.

In an introductory meeting with representatives of print and electronic media, the commissioner said indiscriminate operation against squatters would continue without against illegal occupants as per the vision and instructions of the Punjab government.

Additional Commissioner Coord Afzaal Qamar Warraich, AC (Revenue) Rana Manzoor Hussain, AC (General) Tanveer Yaseen, PSO Nadeem Butt and officers of other departments were also present on the occasion.

The commissioner said the government lands were the valuable asset of our country and we had a common responsibility to protect the assets . He said the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan and Punjab Chief Minister Usman Bazdar was to eradicate the mafia from the country and they had made it very clear to the officers that no concessions should be accorded to even those belonging to the ruling party in this regard.

He said he had given a target to all the Deputy Commissioners (DCs) for the next one month to take action against big and influential occupation mafia and had urged them to take concrete action in this regard so that valuable government lands were protected from the illegal occupation.

He said we must send a clear and loud message to every powerful person that no one was above the law. The commissioner said the Punjab government had allocated Rs 7 billion across the province to ensure the availability of affordable food items during Ramazan adding that food items would be available in the Ramazan bazaars under the district administration at rates fixed during 2018.

He said with the help of media, service delivery would be improved and problems being faced by the people would be solved. He expressed his firm resolve to ensure merit and relief at every level and a visible improvement in every department.

He said our main duty was to serve the common man and in this regard he would not tolerate any slackness under any circumstances and irresponsible officers and government officials would be held responsible for their poor performance.

The commissioner said unfortunately influential occupation mafia had been backed in one way or another which would be eliminated and everyone would have to abide by the law. Lauding the role of media, he expressed hope that the media representatives would keep working with this national spirit and would continue to show the mirror of the performance of the government agencies so that steps could be taken to improve the service delivery standards and ensure good governance and relief to the people.

Fireworks, arms recovered from FOUR accused: Police Thursday arrested four accused and recovered fireworks and illegal arms from them.

Reportedly, Gakhar Mandi police raided a locality in village Fateh Garh and recovered fireworks in heavy quantity from accused Naeem Masih.

Meanwhile, patrolling police arrested ccused Anas, Babar and Imran and recovered two rifles from them.