LAHORE: The Pakistan Railways (Lahore Division) has stopped issuance of no objection certificates (NOCs) to the Punjab government regarding five projects after the latter failed to clear outstanding dues of the former.

The non-issuance of NOCs has delayed completion of the projects in the districts of Hafizabad, Gujrat, Gujranwala, Sheikhupura and Toba Tek Singh.

The dispute emerged after the provincial government allegedly failed to pay dues related to an ongoing project (construction of underpass) in Gojra (Toba Tek Singh) and massive delays in payments related to Ek Moria Pul Widening Project (Lahore), Dawn has learnt.

“We will not give NOCs to the Punjab government until receipt of a timeline in writing regarding duration for the completion of projects, payment of all dues etc,” PR’s Divisional Superintendent (Lahore) Tariq Latif told Dawn on Tuesday.

“For the last couple of years, they (first the PWD and now the Communication & Works Department) failed to complete the underpass in Gojra, leading to detention of trains, late arrival and departure and other issues. At the project site, we are forced to use a temporary diversion track due to ongoing construction,” he explained. Reprimanding the government, he criticised the C&W department secretary for not resolving the issue despite several requests in writing.

Mr Latif said the railways wouldn’t issue NOCs to the Punjab government’s other projects until completion of the underpass project by June 30 and clearance of all outstanding dues related to this project. He, however, didn’t mention the projects for which the government applied for the NOCs.

Mr Latif also complained about the massive delays in payments concerning the Ek Moria Pul Widening Project. He thanked the then LDA DG for helping the railways regarding payment of earlier dues.

An official source, on condition of anonymity, said the PR Lahore division had stopped issuance of the NOCs for five projects in Hafizabad, Gujrat, Gujranwala, Sheikhupura and Toba Tek Singh after the departments concerned showed laziness in the Gojra underpass project which was still incomplete.

“The NOCs for these projects will not be issued until clearance of all previous dues and completion of the project in Gojra etc,” the official reiterated. He added that a partial payment had been made for construction of gates at various level crossings in TT Singh but the payments for other four projects were yet to be made.

To a question, the Gojra project was earlier being executed by the PWD but later it was handed over to the C&W department.

According to a letter of January this year, the department had sought payment of dues amounting to over Rs106m calculated on account of train detention charges for the period — Sept 25, 2023, to June 30, 2025 (Rs101.891m) and Signaler (six employees) charges (Rs4.662m) for the same period.

The C&W department secretary was not available for comments despite calls and messages made by this reporter.

Published in Dawn, May 28th, 2025