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Lahore to be made billboard-free city
CM has ordered removal of billboards from city roads and retrieval of state land from illegal occupants.—File
LAHORE: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has ordered removal of billboards from city roads and retrieval of state land from illegal occupants.
He said this at a meeting regarding the Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA), Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) and Solid Waste Management (SWM), here at Chief Minister’s Secretariat on Tuesday.
Mr Sharif also ordered beautification plans for Jallo Park and Iqbal Park and said that Jinnah Bagh should be handed over to the PHA.
Saying that billboards had marred the beauty of the city, the chief minister said a policy would be evolved for erecting billboards at a few selected places for which the PHA would develop a design.
He warned Wasa to remain alert to cope with any untoward situation during the monsoon and if the people in lying areas faced hardships, the guilty officials would not be spared.
He said the project of installation of tubewells should be completed at the earliest for the provision of potable water to the people.
He said that a survey of the city should be conducted and illegal occupants of state land be identified and ejected for utilising the land for the construction of beautiful pavilions equipped with recreational facilities for the benefit of the citizens.
The chief minister ordered the preparation of a complete plan for the beautification of Kamran’s Baradari and developing a beautiful lake in the area with the consultation of foreign experts.
He also called a separate briefing for developing Jallo Park. The chief minister also ordered the setting up of a book street and a tea shop for writers on The Mall as well as beautification of the canal from Wagah to Tokhar Niaz Beg.
He directed setting up of two cultural villages in Lahore and sought a briefing in this regard within one month after identification of the villages.
He said road crossings of the city should be outsourced to multi-national companies.
He urged the PHA to pay more attention to the beautification of backward areas of the city and asked the PHA director general to brief him about the progress in 10 days.He said the beautification and enhancing greenery in the province should be made on the pattern of experiments of the Iranian city of Mashhad.
He also made a committee headed by Commissioner Khusru Pervaiz to ensure filling of the roads dug up for the laying of sewerage lines. The committee will submit its report on July 3.
He directed the housing secretary to give a detailed briefing regarding the pace of implementation of the agreement signed with a Chinese company regarding solid waste management.
DAWN. Wednesday, 01 Jul, 2009
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