LAHORE: A hefty spending of Rs340 million by the Lahore district administration to illuminate major places in the provincial metropolis last year on the occasion of Eid Miladun Nabi has raised serious concerns about transparency and [possible] misuse of public funds as different departments, religious and trader organisations claim to have made lighting arrangements on their own and without any government aid.

Documents available with Dawn revealed glaring discrepancies between official claims and ground realities.

The documents disclosed that the initial approved budget was Rs100 million.

However, the final payment surged to Rs340m a 240 per cent increase.

The district administration did not answer this reporter`s questions as to why the initial estimate was kept at Rs100m. What warranted the Rs240m increase? And where were the committee`s recommendations for approval of revision? The MCL claimed to have installed 1,756 Lari lights, 2,616 snow lights, 18 generators (150 KVA), and 15 generators (200 KVA) at Greater Iqbal Park, billing Rs12.58m.

However, the Minhajul Quran, which exclusively used the park for a three-day international conference, stated theymanaged all arrangements independently, including lights, clean-up, and even paid for fence repairs. The park`s administration corroborated their claim.

The district administration did not provide verification reports or photos of installations despite repeated requests.

Bills worth Rs4.36m (Lahore Museum), Rs 3.51m (Orange Line/high court) and Rs 5.18m (Civil Secretariat) were approved.

Officials at these sites confirmed that no MCL arrangements were made. The Lahore Museum used its permanent lighting, while the high court decorated its building in-house.

The Town Hall, a building under the MCL`s direct control, saw only minimal lighting, yet a Rs3m bill was submitted.

The Civil Secretariat reportedly conducted its own lighting but still appeared on the contractor`s bills for over Rs5.1m.

Traders of Tollinton Market confirmed handling their own decorations, but Rs3.95million were charged.

The list of claims for Nishtar Zone showed Rs4.2m, Shalimar Zone (Rs4.5m), Gulberg Zone (Rs4.2m), Ravi Zone (Rs6.4m), Data Ganj Bakhsh Zone (Rs8.7m), Samanabad (Rs6.4m), Allama Iqbal Town (Rs8.1m), Wagah Zone (Rs6.9m), Aziz Bhatti Zone (Rs6.4m).

The lighting charges claimed for major roads included McLeod Road (Rs18m), Istanbul Chowk to Governor House (Rs21.4m), Ferozepur to Jail Road (Rs22.3m), despite PHA-installed permanent lighting, Jinnah Underpass to Ferozepur Road (Rs14.9m), Allah Hoo Roundabout to Shaukat Khanum (Rs14.5m), and Batapur to Greater Iqbal Park (Rsim).

Similarly, Rs29.1m were charged on the pretext of work from Yakki Gate to Circular Road a claim flatly denied by local traders and residents.

An expenditure of Rs22.3m wasclaimed for Ferozepur Road to Jail Road despite PHA-installed permanent lighting.

Fuel costs for generators of the same capacity (150/200 KVA) varied significantly across locations, with no technical rationale provided.

One of the controversial components involves the allocation of Rs162.7m for generator fuel. This is despite a preevent meeting on Sept 2, 2024, where Lesco was tasked with uninterrupted power supply.

Even the DC`s and commissioner`s official residences, which already have highcapacity generators, were allotted new 100 to 150 KVA generators with no clear explanation from officials.

Pakistan Minhajul Quran spokesperson Noorullah said the organisation held the Milad conference at the Greater Iqbal Park and installed every light there on its own. He said they also cleaned the park after completion of the conference and also paid damages as some of the iron fences were damaged by the participants.

The Lahore museum spokesperson said there were permanent lighting gadgets installed on the wall and roof of the museum and these were used on a daily basis till 10pm.

He said the museum observed the Eid Miladun Nabi without getting any help from the district administration.

He said the district administration had installed the lights and other things on the road.

The Lahore High Court spokesperson said the building was decorated by them and not by the district administration.

An MCL official on condition of anonymity said the funds were allegedly misappropriated via inflated contracts and verification committees never physically inspected sites.

Lahore Deputy Commissioner SyedMusa Raza did not respond to all queries.

However, Mr Raza denied all allegations, insisting that the cost increase was justified and the earlier Rs100m allocation was an underestimate. He failed to clarify why the verification committee was dismantled or how approvals were secured in one day.

He could not explain the need for oversized generators or the lack of disciplinary action against those responsible for the faulty original estimates.

Replying to a query about increasing the amount, the DC said the administration did not increase the amount on contractor`s demand. All the arrangements were made under rules of the department and work orders were increased on the recommendation of the in-charge officer of different zones and he did not provide any document to this reporter.

He also claimed that the work order was reviewed on the written recommendations of these zonal officers. `The amount was increased on the recommendations of these officers and this expenditure was less than the amount spent in previous two years.

He said all the phases including financial, technical and administrative were taken under the legal framework and the expenditure was not increased on the suggestion of any contractor.

To a query about the direction to assistant commissioners (ACs) to monitor every zone to approve the bill for payments, he said the ACs were not available for monitoring due to their other administrative matters and they were exempted from the additional duties.

To a query about directions to the Lesco to provide uninterrupted electricity, he said the administration had to install additional lights due to security reasons and had to arrange generators.