LAHORE: The pace of construction work on the Thokar Niaz Beg entry/exit point remodeling scheme has been accelerated, paving the way to complete it by the end of this month.

Thokar — Lahore’s busiest entry/exit point is being remodeled with widening of the road on both sides. Moreover, the empty places on both sides of the road are being fenced in a bid to avert accidents. Besides this, the signage and monumental related works are also underway.

“The completion of the project will help get rid of the traffic congestion and controlling vehicular carbon emissions,” Lahore Development Authority Director General Tahir Farooq said during his visit to the project site on Monday.

“The project must be completed by all means in the ongoing month,” he directed the officers present on the occasion.

He was briefed about the ongoing works with completion timelines.

The asphalt and widening on both sides of the road has been completed.

According to a document made available to Dawn, the project involves construction of walkways, entry monument, entrance mast, road surfacing, installation of solar lights, fixing fencing with construction of feature walls, provision of proper signage and safety devices. Moreover, the a new police check post is also being constructed after demolishing the old one. Besides these, a stormwater drain is also being constructed.

The road has also been widened to another 20-feet or so. The bushes grown on the road shoulders and other places are also being removed and the departments concerned have been engaged to beautify the sites with tree plantation.

RECOVERY: Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) teams recovered Rs3.76 billion from 126,718 dead defaulters in all the five districts – Lahore, Sheikhupura, Nankana Sahib, Kasur and Okara- during 466 days of its recovery campaign.

Lesco spokesperson told reporters on Monday that the company has recovered outstanding dues of Rs559 million from 17,308 defaulters in Northern Circle, Rs750 million from 16,024 defaulters in Eastern Circle, Rs600 million from 15,287 defaulters in Central Circle, Rs256 million from 8,520 defaulters in Southern Circle, Rs296 million from 11,787 defaulters in Nankana Sahib Circle, Rs569 million from 15,669 defaulters in Sheikhupura Circle, Rs228 million from 19,533 defaulters in Okara Circle and Rs505 million from 22,590 defaulters in Kasur Circle.

On the other hand, the Lesco teams, according to the spokesman, have detected another 456 connections from where the customers were pilfering electricity in all its circles of five districts during its anti-power theft campaign in the last 24 hour. The teams also submitted FIR applications against electricity thieves, out of which 150 FIRs have been registered in respective police stations, while 27 accused have been arrested by the respective police.

Large commercial consumers were also found involved in electricity theft. Among the seized connections are 15 commercial, one agricultural, two industrial and 438 domestic. They were also disconnected and charged with detection units.

All these connections were disconnected and charged with a total of 304,005 units as detection bill amounting to Rs14.035 million.

Published in Dawn, December 10th, 2024