BAHAWALPUR: The Punjab government has allocated funds to the tune of Rs38.005 billion in the current Annual Development Programme (ADP ) for a total of 31 mega projects of the three districts of Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar and Rahim Yar Khan of the Bahawalpur division.

This was stated by Divisional Commissioner Ms Musarrat Jabeen, who said Punjab chief minister, on her recommendations, allocated such a huge amount for the development of three districts of the division.

She told Dawn that of the 31 projects, 20 would be executed in Bahawalpur, seven in Bahawalnagar and four in RY Khan districts.

The commissioner said the allocation has been made for old as well as new projects pertaining to buildings, roads, Cholistan’s forts, hospitals etc.

According to her, in the projects for Bahawalpur district include the introduction of electric buses and the construction of their depot and shelter, at a cost of Rs5,315.02m, development of Bahawalpur Zoo Rs3,500m, the construction of a burns unit at the Bahawal Victoria Hospital (BVH) and a modern slaughter house Rs2,000m and Rs450m, respectively.

The establishment of a burns unit at the BVH was promised by the then PML-N government in 2015 after an oil-tanker explosion near Ahmedpur East had claimed the lives of 132 persons.

The Southern Bypass improvement and rehabilitation project will get the largest allocation of Rs943.5m, while for the construction of a steel bridge linking Sarri Basti with Ahmedpur East tehsil in Bahawalpur district and Jalapur Peerawala tehsil in Lodhran district, a sum of Rs475m has been allocated in the ADP.

Of RY Khan district’s four schemes, the important ones include the addition of a burns unit at Sheikh Zayed Hospital at a cost of Rs2,000m, resolving water-logging in the district for Rs3,000m, protection of Minchin flood bund Rs1,240m and construction of Chak No 107 –P road at a cost of Rs396m.

Of Bahawalnagar district’s seven projects, the most important allocation of Rs2,500m is made for the Bahawalnagar Medical College project, which has been under construction for the last 12 years. Allocations of Rs373m and Rs2,333m are for the acquisition of land for a judicial complex in Minchinabad and the rehabilitation of the Dahranwala-Fortabbas road, respectively.

The commissionerstates that since Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has pledged the early release of the allocated funds in the ADP, work on the projects is expected to commencesoon.

She hoped that these projects, upon completion, would help alleviate a sense of deprivation among the local population.

Published in Dawn, July 19th, 2025