Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif chairs video link meeting to finalise cleanliness arrangements across province for Eidul Azha, May 23, 2026. SCREENGRAB
LAHORE:
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif directed deputy commissioners across the province on Tuesday to identify areas lacking access to safe drinking water and immediately submit reports in this regard.
Chairing a meeting on the rehabilitation of filtration plants, the chief minister instructed the district administrations to identify localities where residents had to travel long distances to obtain potable water and assess the needs of areas facing acute shortages.
She sought immediate reports from the DCs of Khushab, Dera Ghazi Khan, Bahawalpur and Rahim Yar Khan on the prevailing drinking water situation in the districts.
She was informed that bottling plants had been made operational in the worst-affected districts, including Khushab, DG Khan, Bahawalpur and Rahim Yar Khan.
The bottled drinking water will be transported to communities on trucks.
Officials said the Khushab plant had the capacity to produce 50,000 bottles of water per hour.
A proposal for establishing four additional bottling plants under the CM Punjab Clean Drinking Water Project was approved.
The officials said 2,258 filtration plants would be established across the province.
Cluster-based plants with storage tanks will also be set up to improve access to safe drinking water.
In the first phase, 22 cluster-based plants will be established in Bahawalpur division and 10 in Rajanpur.
Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz also directed authorities to immediately address complaints regarding non-functional water filtration plants and instructed the DCs to ensure the repair and restoration of damaged or closed facilities in their districts to provide uninterrupted access to clean drinking water.
Meanwhile, Punjab Local Government Minister Zeeshan Rafique expressed satisfaction the completion of the construction of 78 per cent of water storage tanks planned under the Maryam Nawaz Sohna Punjab Program.
The minister said while chairing a meeting that 51 tanks had been built by June and 31 more by mid-July. “Thus, 82 tanks have been completed so far, while 70% work on 22 others has been done,” he noted.
Zeeshan Rafique said that in the first phase, approval had been given to build 105 underground tanks to prevent urban flooding.
He said 51% work on 124 drains had also been completed.
The minister directed the Project Management Unit (PMU) to expedite the work on the remaining drains, saying that due to deep excavation, the construction of underground water storage tanks and drains was a difficult task, which had been completed to a large extent.
Academic leadership centre
The chief minister has also approved plans for the establishment of high standard schools for boys and girls across the province and gave the go-ahead for the pilot project of the Maryam Nawaz Centre of Academic Leadership.
The approval was granted during a meeting on school education chaired by the chief minister after a briefing on the proposed centre.
It was decided that the first Centre of Academic Leadership would be set up on Wahdat Road. The institution will feature a sports hall, hockey and cricket stadiums, horse-riding facilities and a swimming pool. With additional input from APP
