LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has approved the SL-4 Lahore Ring Road project and directed authorities to submit weekly progress reports on road sector initiatives across Punjab.
Chairing a meeting to review major infrastructure projects here on Tuesday, the chief minister ordered timely and high-quality construction of the Multan-Vehari Road. Officials informed the meeting that base and sub-base work on the province’s first “dust-free road” has been completed, while asphalt laying is progressing rapidly. The meeting granted in-principle approval for Phase II of the Sialkot Ring Road, extending from Wazirabad Road to Sialkot-Pasrur Road, while a proposed Thal Expressway linking Bhakkar and Layyah with the M-4 motorway was presented for consideration. Progress on the Rawalpindi Signal-Free Corridor in Rawalpindi was also reviewed, with officials briefing that the project includes seven underpasses and one overhead bridge.
The chief minister directed that all ongoing road projects be completed within stipulated timelines and sought weekly updates, particularly on key schemes including the Multan-Vehari Road. The meeting reviewed 133 ongoing projects under the chief minister’s initiative and 125 additional schemes. Overall, 2,143 road sector projects have been launched across Punjab, including 258 currently under completion. So far, 376 projects have been completed, while work continues on 86 schemes.
Under the Road Rehabilitation Programme Phase 1, 85 schemes were launched, of which 38 have been completed and 47 are in progress. In Phase II, 43 schemes were initiated, with 18 completed and 25 underway.
Maryam noted that for the first time in Punjab’s history, over 12,000 kilometres of roads have been constructed or rehabilitated. She stressed that improved infrastructure — especially rural link roads — will ease access from farms to markets and from factories to commercial centres, ensuring equitable development across cities and villages. She directed plantation along road projects and reviewed a pictorial briefing on the Lahore Tourism Highway. All road sector projects are to be completed by June 30.
The chief minister announced the immediate commencement of wheat procurement at Rs3,500 per maund and the provision of free gunny bags worth Rs6 billion for farmers across the province. Registered farmers will receive 10 gunny bags per acre from purchase centres.
Chairing another meeting on wheat procurement, gunny bag distribution and the Green Tractor Scheme, she directed authorities to begin procurement without delay and decided in principle that wheat would be purchased on a priority basis from farmers holding Kissan Cards. Payments must be ensured within 72 hours of procurement, while strategic management committees will monitor the process at provincial and divisional levels.
Officials informed the meeting that 88 per cent of farmers have expressed confidence in the provincial government’s agricultural initiatives. The CM announced that Work with Punjab Government programme would offer internships to agriculture graduates and others. A record Rs100 billion in loans have been disbursed through the Kissan Card scheme, with a 99 per cent recovery rate, while nine lakh farmers have been registered. Authorities were directed to continue the registration process. Under the Green Tractor Scheme, a target of 30,000 tractors was set, with 20,000 already delivered. The initiative, along with agricultural mechanisation, is boosting local industry, with manufacturers in Daska actively producing harvesters. The chief minister reiterated that farmers would not be left unsupported, adding that sustainable agricultural development has led to what she termed a “real agricultural revolution” in the province within two years.
