LAHORE: The orders issued by the Punjab ombudsperson and the Chief Minister’s Complaint Cell could not be implemented in identical cases of making a road functional, closed for six years due to sewage in Sheikhupura.

Both authorities had ordered Sheikhupura administration to ensure compliance, following the Suthra Punjab campaign announced by Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif.

The ombudsperson issued orders for the Sheikhupura DC twice in this regard but to no avail.

Four months ago, the Sheikhupura DC, according to residents, visited the road on the instructions of the Lahore commissioner and promised to clean it but despite repeated reminders, there has been no progress in this regard. On the request of locals, the ombudsman summoned the DC and the chief officer District Council Sheikhupura twice in writing to explain the reasons for defiance of his orders but to no avail.

“The main Rizvia Road of Mehmood Colony, tehsil Ferozewala, adjacent to Imamia Colony, has dirty drains due to the closure of the sewerage for the last six years. The officers of district council and public health engineering Sheikhupura have already embezzled funds of hundreds of thousands of rupees several times in the name of cleanliness. In 2022, the residents of the area approached the ombudsman and he ordered the immediate cleaning of sewage, construction of a new sewer line and cleaning of the road but the chief officer district council trashed the orders and refused to take action,” explains a resident.

The people of the area, he says, again approached the ombudsman in 2024 and requested him to take action against the district council officers for defiance of his orders. At this, the ombudsman gave the DC/administrator district council, chief officer Sheikhupura and EXEN District Council Sheikhupura another opportunity on Oct 15, 2024, and ordered to lay a new sewerage, reconstruct and repair Razvia Road and clean sewage within 45 days. Orders were also issued to make the road usable and clean it weekly. But the DC and the chief officer did not bother to act even after passage of the deadline. At this, the ombudsman summoned the DC and the CO twice but nothing happened. The residents approached Chief Minister’s Complaint Cell to resolve the longstanding issue and to take action against the officers concerned.

“The Chief Minister’s Complaint Cell also failed to implement its orders so far,” said another resident.

Published in Dawn, January 24th, 2025