ISLAMABAD: The federal government is considering notifying a commission for carrying out changes to Zoning Regulations of Zone III.

According to sources, a meeting was held on Friday at the Prime Minister’s Office where various issues and upcoming schemes of the civic body came under discussion.

They said the meeting held at the Prime Minster Office was attended by senior government officers and CDA Chairman Mohammad Usman.

It was decided that instead of the CDA, changes to the Zoning Regulations of Zone III would be decided by a commission, to be notified by the government.

Islamabad has five zones and according to the zoning regulations 1992 each zone has its own bylaws and regulations.

Zone III, which comprises around 50,000 acres, is spread over the national park area and private land. Out of the total, around 20,000 acres is private for which the civic agency has no rules and regulations.

CDA had decided to make changes under supervision of its member planning last month

Last month, the CDA board had decided to make changes to zoning regulations of Zone III and a committee under the supervision of member planning was also formed.

However, sources said now instead of CDA’s own committee the changes will be made by a commission of experts, including environmentalists.

A couple of weeks ago, the CDA’s planning wing had prepared draft regulations under which it was proposed that old villages located on Margalla Hills would be preserved and there will be a ban on further development work there.

The sources said the planning wing’s proposals were to be shared with the committee formed by the CDA board for making changes to the regulations of Zone III. Now, it is expected that these proposals would be shared with the commission.

The sources said during discussions taken place in the planning wing, it was proposed that all the three unacquired villages — Gokina, Talhar and Shahdara — would be preserved.

The proposal said the villagers would be provided civic facilities and would be asked to refrain from carrying out further development work. They will also be told that whenever they wanted to sell their land, the civic agency will procure it for preservation. However, there will be no forced acquisition. The landowners can be asked if they wanted to sell their land to the CDA or not.

Similarly, the sources said, it had been proposed that private area which belonged to the locals such as Shah Allah Ditta will be included in Zone I and could be given the new name of Zone I-A. Areas such as Kot Hatyal and Bhara Kahu will be added to Zone IV with the addition of a new sub-zone of 5. Similarly, under the proposals, the area along the Murree Road near Rawal Dam Chowk, where several constructions had already been taken place, will also be made part of Zone IV,

Other than the national park, a portion of Banigala, Lakhwal, Saidpur, Malpur, Sangjani, Bhara Kahu, Kot Hathial, Shah Allah Ditta, Mangial, Phulgran, Mandla, Dhoke Jewan, Gandiar, Kalinjar, Sanarir and area bounded by Srinagar Highway in the north, Shahrah-i-Islamabad in the west and Murree Road in the south and east up to its junction with Srinagar Highway and Rawal Lake and area within a distance of two kilometres from the high watermark of Rawal Lake fall in the limits of Zone III.

However, the CDA in violation of the fundamental rights of the people neither is acquiring their land, which falls in the zone, nor regulating construction activities there, resulting in the mushroom growth of unauthorised buildings.

People who hold land in the zone often face various restrictions as according to the CDA’s zoning regulations they cannot build new houses on their own land.

On the other hand, the civic agency never made any serious attempts to resolve issues of the local people. In 2010, a summary was presented to the cabinet which directed the CDA to undertake a study in Zone III. However, no proper work was done later.

CDA officials said Margalla Hills were considered as lungs of Islamabad; therefore, no bylaws should be framed which could compromise the green character of the zone.

They said there was a need for bylaws and regulations for private land in the zone and that should be amid at providing relief to the locals, mainly small landholders not for builders and owners of housing schemes.

The officials said there should be no permission for government owned or private housing schemes and major apartment buildings in Zone III to maintain the green character of the city.

Published in Dawn, December 19th, 2022