Lahore, October 3, 2025: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Friday inaugurated the province’s first electric bus project in Lahore, pledging modern, affordable, and environmentally friendly transport for the city’s residents.
The CM announced that the new buses are equipped with internet facilities and will charge passengers a minimal fare of Rs20. Travel will be free for senior citizens and persons with disabilities. “These buses are a gift for the people of Lahore, and more will be added soon,” she said.
Maryam Nawaz reiterated that Punjab’s development remains her top priority but added that the province had been hit hard by natural disasters. She clarified that when she referred to “our water” earlier, she meant Punjab’s water resources, not Jati Umrah, her family estate.
Recalling the deadly cloudburst in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that claimed 500 lives, she said she personally reached out to KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur to offer Punjab’s help. “But when Punjab faced disaster, instead of support, our relief work was ridiculed in press conferences,” she remarked. She insisted that Punjab did not need to rely on international aid, saying: “When the goal is public service, there is no need to ask others for help.”
Maryam also condemned efforts to “mislead people and turn them against Punjab,” calling it an act of partisanship. “The people of KP are also citizens of Pakistan, and Punjab stands with them,” she said.
Meanwhile, political tensions between the ruling PML-N in Punjab and its coalition partner PPP at the federal level continue to escalate. Earlier this week, Maryam Nawaz refused to apologise for her outburst against the PPP over flood compensation distribution through the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP).
The dispute, which began with PPP’s demand to channel aid via BISP and Punjab’s rejection of the proposal, deepened after Maryam dismissed PPP’s criticism of a controversial canal project on the Indus River. PPP lawmakers staged walkouts in both houses of parliament in protest, while the Punjab CM accused PPP leaders of unfairly criticising her government’s flood response.
