LAHORE, Feb 19: The Punjab government is creating a new department - Department of New Townships - primarily to look after the multi-billion-rupee New Murree project. The cost of project, estimated at Rs20 billion, could increase, official sources informed Dawn on Thursday.

They said Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi would be in charge of the new department. The recently retired chief secretary, Hafeez Akhtar Randhawa, was expected to be helmsman of the department.

The initial task of the department would be to establish New Murree for which the Punjab government had passed a bill during the last session of provincial assembly.

New Murree would be the second new city in Pakistan after Islamabad. It is being created near Patriata. Sources said the government would primarily look after the New Murree project because of its size.

They said the project was expected to be completed in nearly seven years. The estimated timeframe for laying down the basic infrastructure was around three years.

The sources said New Murree would be a luxurious city of international standard. Its property would be sold by auction most probably to foreign parties.

It would have international-level hotels, motels, recreational places, roads, parks and its own transport and rail systems. "It would be another Switzerland," the sources claimed.

They said the city would be a costly place, as could be assessed from the estimated 65-paisa per gallon of water to be provided to it directly from the nearby Jhelum. The per gallon price of water in Lahore or Murree was 12 paisa. The daily per person water consumption in the new city would cost Rs20, they claimed.

The sources said the Jhelum would be lifted to the new city in six stages. "Investment for the project would come from abroad and the government would get huge funds by selling property at the new city." The sources said the department could also handle new townships in other cities like the one at Fort Munro in southern Punjab.