The Punjab cabinet on Friday accorded approval to the underground mass transit system for Lahore and to incorporating underground blue and purple line mass transit projects in the annual development programme.
Presiding over the sixth cabinet meeting at his office, Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi and his cabinet colleagues offered special prayers for the martyrs of the Army Public School Peshawar attack on their eighth anniversary. Also, they paid rich tribute to their sacrifice.
Approval was also accorded to a 50 percent decrease in the unit rates of ownership rights for landless farmers in Cholistan. These farmers and agriculture in general will greatly benefit from this step by the Punjab government. Approval was also granted to exempt ambassadors and consulates from value-added tax collection.
On the occasion, the CM stated that he did not want to ruin Lahore by introducing an underground train system. Blue Line, Purple Line, and mass transit projects would be launched with the cooperation of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), adding that this project would be built on a build-operate-transfer basis and not a single penny of the Punjab government would be spent on it.
The subway would run from Valencia Town to Karma Chowk, Liberty Chowk, and Data Darbar, eventually reaching the airport.
