ISLAMABAD: The commission to review Islamabad’s master plan held a consultative dialogue on Thursday where citizens gave suggestions on how to improve on the city.

Private associations, developers, traders, NGOs and international NGOs and civil society representatives participated in the dialogue.

According to Capital Development Authority (CDA) spokesperson Syed Safdar Ali, progress on the revision of the master plan was also shared with participants.

Mr Ali said people gave various suggestions, including establishing a solar park, regularising buildings, increasing green cover and deciding on issues of housing societies and guesthouses.

Private associations, developers, traders, NGOs and international NGOs and civil society representatives participated in the dialogue

Earlier, housing societies’ representatives, developers and the guesthouse association said the CDA will have to a make prompt decisions on pending policy issues.

CDA Member Planning Hafiz Ehsanul Haq, a commission member, said at the dialogue that all the suggestions would be reviewed in following meetings.

He said: “We are very much open. Nothing is going to be done for one segment of society while reviewing the master plan, rather all segments will be covered.”

He added that citizens could also submit their suggestions and feedback on the CDA website.

The Ministry of Interior recently allowed the commission to proceed with hiring a consultant to review Islamabad’s master plan.

The consultant will carry out various studies to resolve the city’s problems, including those related to socioeconomic issues, the environment, transportation, water resources, revenue generation models, unauthorised slums, vertical construction, unauthorised construction, sustainability, cultural heritage preservation, development and future needs, and sanitation.

In December last year, the cabinet approved a commission of experts to carry out the first ever revision of Islamabad’s master plan.

It appears as if this task will not be completed within the six month deadline because a consultant has yet to be engaged.

CDA officials said that reviewing the master plan for the first time is a massive undertaking that could not have been completed in six months.

“The commission is moving forward with the utmost care, as reviewing the master plan is a highly important task,” an official said.

He added that almost all the initial work has been carried out, and the final work will be completed in the next stage.

The master plan was prepared in 1959-60, and was supposed to be revised every 20 years but no revisions have been carried out thus far.

Published in Dawn, May 17th, 2019