LAHORE: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has appreciated his niece and Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz and her team for keeping the province, especially Lahore canal, clean during Eidul Azha days.

“Well done Punjab, well done Maryam Nawaz. It is appreciable to have the usage of drone to clean Lahore canal 80 per cent,” the premier said in a message on Wednesday.

He said the chief minister had set a new example in making Punjab clean. “The way you (CM) and your team had worked in the summer heat is highly appreciable,” the premier said.

“New sanitation monitoring system was set up with the help of drone technology and the Safe City cameras. The practice of throwing offal into Lahore canal decreased by 80 per cent on the occasion of Eid,” a government handout says.

It says that special guards were appointed to protect the public, especially children, on the canals. Monitoring also continued in control rooms at the provincial, divisional and district levels, he said.

“For the first time, more than 3.2 m biodegradable bags were distributed across Punjab. On the first day of Eid, the relevant staff and authorities were active in all major cities, tehsils and towns to pick up the offal of sacrificial animals. In different cities, the garbage was disposed of. On the second day, the waste mission continued the cleanliness drive with full determination. In the districts, tehsils and towns, the roads were washed and sprayed with water mixed with phenyl and rose water.”

A fine of Rs280,000 was collected for throwing garbage into the canal while notices were also issued to citizens committing violation of SOPs of sanitation, it said and added a warning was also issued to citizens in this regard.

The CM felicitated the officers and staff of Lahore Waste Management Company and also announced a one month salary bonus for it’s employees.

She appreciated the public spirit of the administration and elected representatives in the tehsils and union councils.

Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2024