RAWALPINDI: The Punjab government has frozen the funds of all 40 district councils across the province, including the Rawalpindi District Council, following the rollout of a new local government system, a move that has led to the cancellation of all 286 small and large development schemes previously undertaken by the Rawalpindi council.
District council funds are now being transferred to the newly established tehsil councils, with contractors previously registered at the district level being re-registered with their respective tehsil councils. Only schemes in the final stages of completion have been permitted to continue; all other grants and development funds now fall under tehsil council control.
The Rawalpindi District Council had earlier approved a budget of Rs7.84 billion, of which nearly Rs3 billion was allocated for local-level grants and development schemes.
With district council operations wound down, tehsil councils and the Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) are executing new water-supply and grant-funded projects in Rawalpindi. WASA has taken over water-supply schemes previously managed by the district council, including the Chahan Dam Water Supply Project. The project is designed to deliver 12 million gallons of clean water daily to a population of roughly one million.
Separately, under the Punjab chief minister’s Clean Drinking Water pilot initiative, pipeline networks and filtration plants have begun supplying clean drinking water to underdeveloped areas of Rawalpindi and Chaklala.
The restructuring marks one of the most significant administrative shake-ups of Punjab’s local government framework in recent years, shifting fiscal and developmental authority from district-level bodies to the newly empowered tehsil councils.
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Saleha Ali
BBC-featured Content Specialist with a sharp eye for search intent and a proven ability to turn content into a growth engine. I leverage cutting-edge digital marketing tools to craft strategies that fuel organic traffic, amplify brand growth, and own the local SEO landscape, particularly across the competitive real estate market. I help brands dominate search rankings and convert visibility into measurable business success.