LAHORE: The Planning and Development (P&D) Board’s ground and second floors caught fire on Sunday.

The P&D Board senior officers say the fire erupted due to welding work on building’s first floor as workers were dismantling the building’s old heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) system to replace it with the new Variable Refrigerant Flow(VRF) system.

Since the office was closed for weekend, no casualty was reported, they say.

A senior officer told Dawn, the fire also damaged the room of a board member, besides burning the false ceiling and walls of the corridor on the second floor. The officer said no damage was done to the official record because most of the board record was now available online.

Punjab senior minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said the fire erupted due to welding work on the first floor, while Rescue 1122 reached in time and controlled the blaze.

Published in Dawn, March 2nd, 2026