ISLAMABAD, July 12: A consultant firm engaged to review the Islamabad Master Plan has asked the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to stick to the old plan and not tinker with it. In its preliminary proposals, the firm advised CDA “total implementation” of the old plan prepared by a Greek city planner in 1960. It blamed the growing housing, traffic and environmental problems in the city on deviation from the original plan.

The review report is in final stages and will be submitted to the CDA board for approval next month.

According to the CDA sources, the firm has so far arranged four workshops seeking opinion of public representatives, residents of Islamabad, representatives of professional bodies, cooperative societies and NGOs.

The firm will arrange a few more workshops to interact with city planners, sociologists, architects and other stakeholders before submitting its final report to the CDA board.

The sources said in the old master plan there was no concept of intersections in the capital city so that the flow of traffic could not be disturbed. But, he added, the old master plan was not fully implemented and that was why the traffic, housing, environmental and others problems were arising day by day.

To overcome the transport problems, the consultants have suggested in the revised master plan a mass transit system and railway system around the city with main stations at Golra, Lohi Bhir and Rawalpindi.

The sources said the CDA chairman had asked the firm to come up with more specific suggestions and arrange more workshops at various places to seek the views of stakeholders and people from different walks of life.

The consultancy for review of the master plan was started in the beginning of this year and the firm had already submitted its plan for development of Zone IV in which it urged the CDA to promote model villages to overcome the housing problem in the capital. The sources said maximum focus had been put on the revised plan to overcome the housing problems in the capital.

The firm also suggested that serious efforts should be made to open new sectors in the capital on emergency basis, as the prices of land in Islamabad had gone through the roof.—APP