BAHAWALPUR: The Punjab government has decided to revive the project of the establishment of an industrial estate here.

The project remained dormant for several years as it was for the first time taken in hand in 2013 during the second tenure of then Shehbaz Sharif government.

Local investors and the Bahawalpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry time and again urged the then regime to execute the project but the government failed to provide the required funds for its development.

Dawn learnt that under the PTI government’s vision to set up special industrial zones in the country to boost industrial activities with a view to increase the industrial production, the Punjab government decided to give importance to the project here with its revival here.

The basic infrastructure, such as the land, has already been earmarked for the project while further funding for its development and provision of basic amenities, including the process of the allotment of plots to the desirous investors and businessmen, would begin soon.

A source of the industries department confirmed to Dawn that the Punjab industrial department was already working on the project on the instruction of Chief Minister Usman Buzdar.

As the stage to execute the estate’s project is set here, the PTI government under its slogan of Tabdeali Aigi has decided to change its name to Quaid-e-Azam Business Park and announced launching the project soon as Prime Minister Imran Khan also during his Lahore’s last visit opened the Quaid-i-Azam Business Park.

The source said the industrial estate would be set up on 1,536 acres, which have already been acquired around village Aghapur. It plans to set up over 600 industrial units here providing jobs to thousands of people while residential facilities to the workers would also be provided.

The government will have to allocate funds for the provision of basic amenities such as roads and connections of gas and electricity.

PLANTATION: Government schools in the district have been given a target of the plantation of 10,000 plants in the district.

This was stated by Education CEO Zahoor Ahmed Chohan at the plantation ceremony performed by Deputy Commissioner Muzzafar Ahmed Sial at Government Sadiq Dane High School.

LOCUSTS: The special teams of Cholistan Development Authority destroyed swarms of locust in Cholistan’s areas.

According to focal person Imtiaz Lashari, the swarms were spotted in the areas of Umarkot near Indo-Pak border in Cholistan, where spray teams eliminated them without causing any damage to the nearby green and cultivated areas.

Published in Dawn, July 30th, 2020