It’s called the Punjab Enforcement and Regulatory Authority. It is a government body set up under the Punjab Enforcement and Regulation Act, 2024, a law passed in October last year that entrusts the provincial government with sweeping powers to remove encroachments from public properties across the province.

On paper, it’s a hurray moment for residents of Punjab’s urban centres, for if the law is effectively implemented, our roads might finally look less choked, long-standing illegal structures could be dismantled and many stretches along railway tracks cleared of temporary settlements.

People who have served the provincial government in the past say this law could mark a critical shift in clearing the province of encroachments. Former civil servant Dr Raheel Siddiqui recalls that, typically in the past, anti-encroachment drives would begin abruptly and soon falter — “often due to a lack of police cooperation.” He adds that on several occasions the police withdrew their support mid-operation leaving tehsil municipal officers and local officials stranded and vulnerable.

Some experts say that such a law was long due. They see encroachments as more than just a governance failure. They trace the problem to the 2001 Ordinance, after which the enforcement powers were diluted, and the office of district commissioner was marginalised. The PERA, senior bureaucrats hold, will remove this governance gap.

However, critics have raised concerns, noting that the Punjab Assembly passed the bill with minimal consultation. On October 13, a leading English daily reported that the bill had sailed through in “five minutes” without debate, after Speaker Malik Ahmad Khan suspended procedural rules and called a vote with only a handful of Sunni Ittehad Council-PTI lawmakers present.

Such practices, which undermine democratic procedures, are not uncommon in the Punjab Assembly where legislative sessions are frequently marred by disruptions, curtailed debates and rushed passage of contentious laws.

The PERA stipulates an overarching provincial enforcement authority and procedures in the Punjab and aims to “improve coordination and cooperation between existing regulatory agencies under special laws; to streamline regulatory measures across the Province for better and more effective enforcement of special laws; to designate a lead regulator in regulatory areas where existing enforcement is lacking.”

If the law is effectively implemented, our roads might finally look less choked, long-standing illegal structures could get dismantled and many stretches along railway tracks cleared of temporary settlements.

Once fully operational — in Lahore by June, and across the remaining 154 tehsils of the Punjab by September 30 this year — the authority is expected to not only act against qabza (illegal occupation) of public land but also ensure sasti (reasonably priced) essential commodities such as flour and sugar, and monitor the hoarding of wheat, sugarcane and fertilisers.

Captain Farrukh Atiq Khan, the director general of PERA, says that the authority believes in ethical enforcement, reliance on technology and a strict policy of non-lethal force: “We will treat offenders as violators, not criminals.”

All said and done, since the PERA will be steered from the very top of the provincial administration — in the present setup, by CM Maryam Nawaz — some experts are questioning whether the law centralises power excessively. Will the top-down approach invite political interference? Will it instead of strengthening existing institutions such as the police or district administrations, create a parallel structure?

There could be some merit to this scepticism, given that the CM will be as the chairperson of the authority and the chief secretary its vice chair.

The law enables a top-down transfer of power on paper at least. At the top, it places governance in the hands of the Punjab Enforcement and Regulatory Authority’s 18-member board — made up of 10 senior civil servants, four elected members of the Punjab Assembly and four independent members. At the district level, a seven-member District Enforcement and Regulatory Board will be responsible for executing the authority’s mandate. On the ground, enforcement stations are to be set up across all 154 tehsils of the Punjab to carry out field operations and enforce the Act. While the law encourages whistle-blower disclosures, it also carries penalties for false or frivolous complaints, including fines and imprisonment.

Pakistan is one of the most regulated countries. Despite the many regulatory layers, enforcement still falters. Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has also shown a penchant for launching new projects. She must ensure that in her pursuit of creating ‘brands,’ she does not dis-empower the existing systems, and that PERA does not become a tool of political control or an excuse for bureaucratic overreach.

Alefia T Hussain is a freelance journalist and a former staff member