LAHORE: Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz has approved the establishment of parks and horticulture authorities (PHAs) in every district of the province by January 2027.

The decision was taken at a meeting here on Friday. The officials briefed the chief minister on the progress of existing PHAs and plans to expand their operations across the province.

The meeting was informed that the PHAs were already functional in 10 districts while new authorities had been established in 11 others.

The government also approved recruitment against 2,820 technical posts for the authorities, including managing directors, directors and technical staff at the district level.

In the second phase, the PHAs would be established in every tehsil of Punjab.

The chief minister directed the authorities to prepare a resource plan for each district and launch phased plantation drives across tehsils, cities, towns and villages.

She also ordered the preparation of monthly plans for planting seasonal flowers and the development of key performance indicators (KPIs) for PHA officials.

The meeting decided to establish in-house nurseries in every district to provide plants at affordable prices for plantation drives and seasonal floral displays.

The design of PHA food courts was also approved while uniform branding for the PHA staff and vehicles was planned.

The CM directed officials to ensure that trees and flowers were planted in every available vacant space.

She also called for standardised planters and flowerpots across cities in the province.

Each PHA has been assigned targets for improving the urban landscape, beautifying parks and rehabilitating greenbelts.

Published in Dawn, October 10th, 2026