construction of 82 water storage tanks, 63 drains completed: minister

LAHORE, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Jul, 2026) A meeting chaired by Local Government Minister Zeeshan Rafique at the Program Management Unit, Garden Town reviewed the progress of development schemes in 49 cities under the Punjab Development Program (PDP). Special Secretary Local Government Shahid Zaman Lak and Additional Secretary Mehreen Faheem Abbasi also attended the meeting.

Minister Local Government Zeeshan Rafique expressed his satisfaction over the fact that 78 percent of water storage tanks have been completed under the “Maryum Nawaz's Sohna Punjab” program. He said that 51 tanks were built by June, while 31 more underground water storage tanks have been constructed by mid-July. "Thus, 100 percent work on 82 tanks have been completed so far, while 70 percent work on 22 tanks have been completed", he noted.

Zeeshan Rafique said that in the first phase, approval was given to build 105 underground tanks to prevent urban flooding.

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He said that more than 51 percent of the work on 124 drains has also been completed. "By June, 27 drains were built and by mid-July, 63 had been completed. So far, 70 to 90 percent of the construction of 26 drains has been completed", he observed.

The provincial minister directed the PMU to expedite the construction work on the remaining drains saying that due to deep excavation, the construction of underground water storage tanks and drains was a difficult task, which has been completed to a large extent. "After that, he went on, the pavement and repairing work of streets, sewerage and parks will not take much time", he pledged. The minister stressed that the timeline of development schemes should be fully taken care of in the light of the instructions of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif.