With increased power generation driving up energy demand in Asia the business of energy security and inter-country business alliances has been a major inter-governmental talking point in recent months, as both Pakistan and India seek to shore-up their energy supply by engaging the Iranian government on exports of oil and gas to their respective countries.

The World Bank will provide $5.524 million (of which $2.869 million long-term debt) to proposed Carbon Finance project "Lahore Composting" (Saif Group, Pakistan, the sole owner of Lahore Compost Ltd-LCL) to avoid generation of methane emission from biodegradable wastes and improve cultivated land by using compost as a natural soil conditioner.

: The LPG Association of Pakistan (LPGAP) has suspended 32 percent of the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) supplies to Lahore to protest against the city government's takeover of LPG filling plants situated in the city.

About 70 percent of Lahore's water supply is contaminated due to a lack of chlorification, a recent survey conducted by the Environment Protection Department (EPD) has revealed. EPD Secretary Zafar Iqbal said that following the first monsoon rain he had ordered EPD staff to collect water samples from across the city. He said that 183 samples had been collected, of which 120 had been tested. Iqbal said that the samples had been collected from water tanks, hand pumps, pipes and other supply sources.

Lahore High Court has barred the Punjab government from levying luxury tax retrospectively on luxurious vehicles over 2000CC registered after June 30, 2005 under the Punjab Finance Act, 2008. Sources told Business Recorder on Monday that provincial government has levied luxury tax through Section 6 of the Punjab Finance Act, 2008.

The City District Government Lahore (CDGL) and the LPG Distributors Association (LPGDA) on Friday sorted out the LPG price issue and fixed the retail rate at Rs 63 per kilogramme and Rs 743 per 11.8-kilogramme cylinder. District Co-ordination Officer Sajjad Bhutta taking action on rickshaw union's application had convened a meeting of stakeholders to discuss the price issue.

The Lahore High Court has issued notices to the government and others and called for a report following a petition against increase in the compressed national gas (CNG) prices announced by the petroleum minister. The court will also order the government to implement the original increase. Consumer Amjad Ali Qasim argued that the minister petroleum had announced an increase of Rs 13 per kilogramme but the ministry issued a notification saying the actual increase was Rs 4.38 instead of Rs 13.

Punjab government has directed Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) to ensure complete chlorination of pipe water being supplied to the city. The step has been taken following complaints of supply of polluted potable water to various parts of the city. New tube-wells will also be installed where ever required to overcome water shortage and the out-dated pipelines will be replaced. Meanwhile, Solid Waste Management wing of the city district government has suspended a number of sanitary workers in various parts of the city on charges of negligence.

It is shocking but true that about half of the city's population has been drinking water having faecal contents, and even those living in the so-called posh areas are not exempted. According to the Institute of Public Health, waste discharged from bowels (faeces) has been found in about half of the drinking water samples collected from almost all parts of Lahore. The samples tested by the institute were sent to it by different agencies including the city district government during the first two weeks of the month.

Despite spending millions of rupees on projects of installation of water filtration plants, replacement of rusty water supply lines, increasing number of collection of water samples from 25 to 40 daily and purification of water through chlorination, the provision of clean water is still a distant dream for Lahorites.