Guru Mangat Road is not Al-Khair any more

By Anjum Gill

LAHORE: The city government removed all ‘Al-Khair Road’ banners and boards on Guru Mangat Road on Saturday and replaced them with boards with the correct name. The government also removed the self-proclaimed Al-Khair Chowk board.

“The name was not officially changed. This self-naming is a clear violation of the law,” Kahlid Sultan, Lahore district coordination officer, told Daily Times. “There is a procedure that needs to be followed. Road and street names cannot be changed on whims.

“The names given to roads and streets have their own sanctity. The names were given in response to public sentiments, and the city government would not change the names without public support,” said Sultan.

Chaudhry Abdul Ghafoor, nazim, and Abdul Samad Ghani, naib nazim, of Union Council-97, Gulberg, denied having any knowledge about a change in Guru Mangat Road’s name.

“Renaming the road to ‘Al-Khair Road’ was just a suggestion, ” said an official at the head office of the similarly named company. The banners were erected on the “resident’s demand”, he said.

However, most residents were very happy with the city government’s prompt response. Haji Lateef, a resident, said, “I’ve grown up with this name. I cannot think of any other name for this road.”

Nadeem Gillani, city government chief public relations officer, said that the procedure to change street names was very lengthy. “Name changes are governed by Rule 9-B of the Local Government Ordinance,” he said.

A city government source said that the Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) was responsible for erecting street boards. “The income of every hoarding and board goes to the PHA,” he said.

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