LAHORE   -  Progress in 27 schemes under the Murree Development Plan was reviewed in a meeting held at the Civil Secretariat, which was presided over by Punjab Local Government Minister Zeeshan Rafiq on Monday. Secretary Local Government Shakeel Ahmed Mian, Special Secretary Asia Gul, Additional Secretary Maria Tariq and others participated. The Deputy Commissioner Murree briefed the meeting on the development plan through video link. The minister said that on the direction of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif, it has been decided to start projects including upgrading of the water network in Murree. “Drainage and streetlight services will also be upgraded in the main tourist hub of Punjab”, he said. He elaborated that the water schemes for Murree would be completed in three phases and short-term scheme would be started first. Zeeshan Rafiq said that the short-term scheme will be completed by the Murree Municipal Committee, while medium and long-term schemes have been entrusted to PHED. He said that the initial cost of the water schemes was estimated at Rs635 million. The provincial minister directed to complete the short-term schemes in 8 months and said that there would be upgradation in Donga Gali, Dhar Jawa, Khani Tak, Masut and Kashmir Point. He said that the work will start in September while after a break during the harsh cold months the schemes would be completed till June 30 next year. “In the long-term scheme, Murree’s water reservoir will be made usable. In this regard 8 water springs will be utilized. The long-term schemes will be completed in 18 months. They will cost more than Rs5 billion. Apart from this, 13 drainage schemes have also been developed in Murree at a cost of Rs 81 million”, he said.

The provincial minister, while directing the Deputy Commissioner Murree to approve the schemes by August 1, said that four schemes of streetlights would also be started in Murree at a cost of Rs83 million, while Rs1.4 billion would be spent on the construction and repair of roads and streets.