Umair Niazi discusses PTI’s Stance on Ravi River development

LAHORE: Lahore’s urban development has always been a big challenge. Housing societies and NOC issues on the banks of the Ravi have been a topic of discussion under several governments.

He said that even during Maryam Nawaz’s tenure, a housing society was issued an NOC, while in the past, Aleem Khan was not given this permission.

He said that even during Imran Khan’s tenure, it was the position that housing schemes cannot be built in the river bed, but water reservoirs, lakes, and treatment plants should be built so that clean water can flow into the river.

According to him, the biggest problem of Lahore is the rapid depletion of groundwater and the discharge of sewage into the Ravi River.

The PTI leader said that Pakistan faces difficulties in both cases of India storing and releasing water or stopping it, so projects like Ravi Urban Development are the need of the hour. He was speaking on ABN News’ program Debate @ 8.

Discussing politics, Umair Niazi said that PTI has resigned from committees because the party was not being allowed to work effectively in these committees. He said that when the records of the Human Rights Committee were called, the report was presented directly to the assembly instead of the committee, which is against parliamentary traditions.

He said that although there are some reservations within the party, decisions are taken considering the political situation. Issues like floods and economic crises are also big obstacles. He further said that Imran Khan’s decisions are based on principle, and it is wrong to have the impression that he protects his close people in any way.

Umair Niazi said that land is a limited resource and instead of filling it with concrete indiscriminately, it should be used in the form of vertical development, i.e., high-rise buildings, as is happening all over the world.

He said that the party will decide its political strategy in the coming days, and despite the current situation, PTI can overcome difficulties.