LAHORE, Nov 28: The creation of new districts was fully justified in view of the manifold increase in population and the needs of the people, the provincial government submitted in the Lahore High Court on Wednesday in a rejoinder to a writ petition.

The petition, filed by Advocate MD Tahir, said the hasty establishment of new districts had resulted in problems, particularly because of the lack of infrastructure in some new district headquarters. It had also burdened the public exchequer with avoidable and unnecessary burden.

Replying to the averments in its reply on behalf of the provincial government, the Board of Revenue said according to the 1951 census, the province’s population was 20,541,000 and the number of districts 19.

According to the 1998 census, the population has gone up to 73,621,000 — an increase of three and a half times over the 1951 figure. The number of districts had not kept pace with the population growth and only 15 new districts had been carved out, raising the total to 34.

The detailed reply dealt with each of the 15 new districts and recounted the factors that led to their establishment by successive governments on various dates. The districts are Kasur, Vehari, Layyah, Khushab, Rajanpur, Toba Tek Singh, Bhakkar, Okara, Khanewal, Chakwal, Narowal, Mandi Bahauddin, Lodhran, Pakpattan and Hafizabad.