LAHORE: The Lahore Development Authority (LDA) has directed the Traffic Engineering and Transport Planning Agency (Tepa) to complete the construction of the Neela Gumbad and Nasser Bagh parking plaza projects within the stipulated time frame.

“Parking plaza projects are very important in terms of ensuring safe parking facilities, controlling traffic congestion and environmental pollution in Lahore. Therefore, these projects should be completed on time. I would rather ask you to try to complete these important schemes before time,” LDA Vice Chairman Mian Marghoob Ahmad said while visiting the project sites along with LDA Director General Tahir Farooq here on Saturday.

Tepa Chief Engineer Iqrar Hussain briefed LDA VC and DG about the projects’ scope of work, features, cost, construction and allied works. He said that the construction of the Neela Gumbad parking plaza was launched in October and at present the piling work was underway. The total cost of the project was Rs2.451 billion. It would have a ground floor with three basements equipped with drainage, electrical, plumbing, fire-fighting equipment, ventilation, parking management & CCTV, lift and roads infrastructure, he added.

Similarly, the civil work on the construction of the underground parking plaza at Nasser Bagh had also commenced and it would be completed in the next 10 months. The Neela Gumbad parking plaza would also provide alternate shops to the affected shopkeepers of the cycle market, the Tepa chief engineer maintained.

Speaking on the occasion, both the LDA VC and DG directed the Tepa administration to ensure the quality of construction work. They also visited various other projects in the Gulberg area under the sustainable development model.

OPERATIONS: The teams of the district administration and the MCL claimed to have removed 1,009 encroachments and 2,656 illegal advertisement materials in various operations during the last 24 hours.

The operation aimed to eliminate visual pollution in the city and clear major highways and commercial centers of encroachments.

DC Syed Musa Raza while presiding over a meeting on Saturday said, “A zero-tolerance policy against resistance to encroachments will be strictly adopted, as compliance with the law is mandatory for everyone, and no one is above the law”.

“Special focus of the operations is to completely clear the surroundings of historical buildings from encroachments and restore their cultural and historical identity. Simultaneously, clearing the footpaths completely is facilitating the movement of citizens, which immediately removes every obstacle hindering traffic flow and provides wider roads to citizens, proving key to solving traffic problems,” he said.

Published in Dawn, December 7th, 2025