PESHAWAR: The jurisdiction of Peshawar Development Authority has been extended to six more areas and localities of the provincial capital, according an official statement issued here on Sunday.

The decision was made in the 5th board meeting of PDA held here with Chief Minister Mahmood Khan in the chair.

The statement said that the matter would be placed before the provincial government for final approval and consequently those localities would be notified as ‘authority areas’ of PDA.

The new areas proposed to be notified as authority area include Kohat Road up to Peshawar urban limits, Nasir Bagh Road commencing from Jamrud Road, Warsak Road from Khyber Road till northern bypass, Charsadda Road commencing from Back Khan Chowk up to 7.5 kilometres and all areas notified for Gandhara City.

Matter to be placed before provincial govt for final approval

Various matters related to developmental activities and administrative matters of PDA came under discussion and a number of important decisions were made in the meeting.

The meeting was informed that presently duty areas of PDA consisted of Hayatabad, Regi Model Town, GT Road, Ring Road and Motorway confluence till Motorway Plaza.

The meeting decided in principle to further expand the duty area of PDA and approved to present the matter for to the provincial cabinet for final approval.

The meeting was informed that PDA was working on a number of flagship developmental projects in Peshawar including Gandhara City, News General Bus Stand, Northern Section of Ring Road and Detour Road etc.

The board also approved the revised estate management rates and fees structure as well as Auction Regulations, 2021 of the authority. Similarly, the board agreed to certain interventions aimed at improving environment and urban aesthetics of Peshawar through corporate social responsibility. The meeting approved the proposed terms and conditions of MoU for involvement of private firms and companies by floating expression of interest in that regard.

Moreover, the forum gave nod to the proposed plan for improvement in solid waste management system in Hayatabad and approved acquisition of 200-kanal of land adjacent to Hayatabad for public graveyard.

The chief minister directed the high ups of PDA for necessary steps to ensure timely completion of all projects under the authority so that people could benefit from those schemes without any delay.

He directed the authorities concerned to complete the beautification scheme of Hayatabad by June. He ordered them to give special attention to beautification of Bus Rapid Transit corridor.

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2021