Punjab | Pakistan

CM announces renovation of 56 historic Gurdwaras in Punjab

LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif expressed strong concern on Tuesday on the suspension of the Punjab Protection of Ownership of Immovable Property Act, 2025 by the Lahore High Court (LHC), arguing that the move would “benefit encroachment and land-grabbing mafias”. Maryam‘s statement issued by the CM’s Office comes a day after LHC Chief Justice Aalia Neelum issued an interim order suspending the operation of the newly enacted Punjab Protection of Ownership of Immovable Property Act, 2025, which empowers dispute resolution committees led by deputy commissioners to resolve property disputes. The ordinance was approved by the Punjab chief minister on Oct 31 and mandates the resolution of land disputes within 90 days. The law has been challenged in the LHC, about which Maryam argued that its enactment was aimed at providing “long-awaited relief to millions of citizens suffering from prolonged land and property disputes”. “The legislation, for the first time, fixed a 90-day time frame for the reso...

After a rain-bearing system passed through the region without delivering significant precipitation, dry and chilly conditions have once again settled over Punjab.

Punjab LG polls to be held on party basis, LHC told

Winter vacations in colleges across Punjab will begin from December 23 and run till January 10, according to a revised schedule issued on Monday. The Punjab Education Minister Rana Sikandar Hayat made the announcement in a post on the social media platform X. Earlier this month, the Punjab government announced the winter vacation schedule for public and private schools in the province. According to a notification by the School Education Department, the break will be from Dec 22 to Jan 10. In Sindh, all schools and colleges will remain closed for winter vacations during the last week of the month, starting from Dec 22 till Dec 31. Meanwhile, in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the provincial government last week announced that winter vacation for the educational institutions will start from Jan 1 in the summer zone and run till Jan 15. In the winter zone, educational institutions will remain closed from Dec 23 till February 28.

Dense fog once again blanketed large parts of Punjab, including Lahore, on the night between Sunday and Monday, severely disrupting road traffic and forcing the closure of several motorway sections due to extremely low visibility.

LAHORE: The Punjab government has notified rules for the Punjab Regulation of Kite Flying Ordinance, 2025, but has yet to decide the scale of kite flying in Lahore as well as other districts across the province. It has also yet to formally notify the announced dates of a three-day Basant festival from February 6, 2026, in Lahore and elsewhere. With the notification of rules for the Punjab Regulation of Kite Flying Ordinance 2025, the Punjab Assembly is expected to take up “The Punjab Regulation of Kite Flying Bill, 2025” for approval in its sitting on Monday. “The Punjab government is currently holding meetings to decide the scale of the three-day Basant festival, ranging from allowing kite flying activities across Lahore, or in some specified grounds or specified rooftops, including known rooftops inside the Walled City,” a source in the Punjab home department told Dawn on Sunday. Sources also say the Punjab government has yet to formally notify the announced basant dates in Lahore. The Punjab government ins...

Dense fog and overcast conditions gripped several parts of Punjab on Sunday, reducing visibility to dangerously low levels and prompting authorities to close major motorways to prevent accidents.

As the Foreign Office sought clarification from India via a letter over a sudden variation in the Chenab River’s flow, the situation is badly affecting wheat and other crops being fed through the Marala-Ravi link and other canals in various parts of Punjab. “The situation is really disturbing as the Chenab River’s control from upstream (India) is being handled by the Indian authorities through various run-of-the-river hydropower projects,” a senior official of the Punjab Irrigation Department said while speaking to Dawn on condition of anonymity. “When India releases the water from dams towards downstream (Pakistan) without informing us, the flow suddenly increases. Sometimes, they hold water for days, reducing flow massively,” he said. He continued, “Once the river inflows recorded at Marala reduced to 1,500 cusecs, leaving us with no option but to stop outflows.” “The situation is very serious and strange for us, as the growers, in several villages, couldn’t water wheat crops due to the lack of water flow t...

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) on Tuesday warned of increased intensity and prolonged spells of fog across Punjab, Upper Sindh and the plains of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa throughout the week, urging commuters to exercise caution due to reduced visibility.

LAHORE - The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday issued notices to the respondents on a petition filed by Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) seeking directions for holding local government elections in Punjab on a party basis.

The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) said on Tuesday that dense fog had affected its flight schedule in Lahore, Multan, Sialkot and Faisalabad, affecting both domestic and international operations. In a statement, the spokesperson for the national carrier urged passengers travelling domestically and internationally to obtain the latest information about their flights before leaving for the airport. The spokesperson said that temporary changes were made to the schedule to ensure passenger safety and to avoid unnecessary delays in flight operations. He said that dense fog affected visibility significantly, creating challenges for aircraft during landing and takeoff. He added that passengers could contact the PIA helpline for updates on the status of their flights. According to the weekly weather outlook issued by the Pakistan Meteorological Department, cold and dry weather was likely to expected in most parts of the country on Tuesday. “Moderate to dense fog/smog is likely to persist over Punjab, upper Sin...

Punjab is set to raise a separate force for handling “unlawful” protests and mobs, as the Punjab Assembly’s Standing Committee on Home Affairs on Monday cleared a sweeping amendment to the Police Order, 2002, to tighten control over riots, violent protests and unlawful assemblies across the province. The proposed Police Order (Second Amendment) Act, 2025, introduces a dedicated Riot Management Unit (RMU), empowered to manage riots across Punjab with modern gear and training specifically for crowd control. The RMU will operate under an additional inspector general of police (AIG), supervised by the provincial police officer. A key feature of the bill is the formal declaration of “riot zones.” Under the new law, the deputy commissioner and district police officer can jointly declare any affected area a riot zone, allowing authorities to cordon off roads, evacuate civilians and appoint an incident commander to coordinate all departments during operations. The bill grants legal protection to police and RMU person...

President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday tasked PPP lawmakers and members with commencing preparations for the local body polls in Punjab. The local body polls are likely to be held in Punjab next year after some amendments to the local government law. Under Article 140-A of the Constitution and Section 219(4) of the Elections Act, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is bound to hold elections within 120 days of the expiry of the term of the local government institutions. In April 2019, the then PTI-led Punjab government dissolved the local government institutions, which were later restored by the Supreme Court and subsequently completed their term on December 31, 2021. The elections were supposed to be held by the end of April 2022, but this was not possible because the provincial government kept amending the local government law repeatedly. President Zardari arrived in Lahore on Friday evening and met party leaders today at Bilawal House, directing them to enhance their public interaction. Punjab Govern...

On the instructions of the Chief Minister of Punjab, the Punjab Wildlife Department has rolled out the province’s first-ever Wildlife Informer Campaign aimed at cracking down on illegal hunting and poaching.

Dense fog once again enveloped parts of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on the night between Friday and Saturday, severely affecting routine life and disrupting road traffic due to extremely low visibility.

Setting aside their political differences, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz have exchanged greetings on social media platform X, with the former thanking the latter for the “positive gesture”. On Thursday, Maryam, in a post on X, had extended a “warm welcome” to Bilawal, who is currently visiting the province. “Punjab is your home, and you will always find a place of respect here,” she said. “Thank you for your gracious remarks. You have my heartfelt good wishes and prayers,” she added. Although Maryam did not specifically mention which comments she was referring to, Bilawal, during a media talk in Lahore this week, had said he would be very happy if the Punjab chief minister chose to contest polls from Sindh. In response, Bilawal on Friday said, “Thank you, madam chief minister for the warm welcome and positive gesture.” The PPP and PML-N, who are allies in the Centre, engaged in a war of words in September and October. The bad blood had escalated to the point that l...

LAHORE - Punjab will officially revive one of South Asia’s most vibrant spring festivals next month, as the govern­ment lifted the a ban of more than a decade on Basant, the centuries-old kite-flying celebration once halted after deadly incidents caused by ra­zor-sharp kite strings.

LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday chaired a high-level meeting to review progress in the province’s agriculture sector, where Punjab and China signed several Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) aimed at modernisation, technology transfer and enhanced research collaboration.

LAHORE - The scope of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif’s digital governance vision has been extended to municipal services, allowing citizens across Punjab to pay bills and other charges from the convenience of their homes.