ABBOTTABAD: Speakers in a workshop here on Thursday offered the geographical mapping of Abbottabad district and proposed a land use plan for the next 20 years.

The event was organised by the urban policy and planning unit of the planning and development department and attended by stakeholders from Swabi and Abbottabad districts and government officials.

The key speaker and noted town planner, Prof Shakir Mayo, told participants that the district land use plan for Abbottabad was a comprehensive document to chalk out future development plans covering almost every field.

In a presentation, he discussed the needs of Abbottabad district up to village level and analytical review for health, education, housing, environment and tourism sectors, utilisation of land for agri purpose, barren land, protected areas, mines and minerals, and communication and improvement of infrastructure.

He said the document would be reviewed after every five years and would be modified on a need basis.

“As the distribution of land for housing projects could be shifted to high-rise buildings to save the precious land and cater to the needs of the increasing population of Abbottabad,” he said.

Earlier, executive director Khawas Khan said haphazard planning was done in the past but that had been almost stopped.

He said every segment of the society had been minutely scrutinised in the detailed study and that deficiencies were noticed by the urban policy and planning unit.

Mr Khan said the study could help stop the mushroom growth of societies and wasting fertile land.

He added that a detailed study had been shared with all stakeholders.

The official said after its approval by the provincial council, the initiative would be implemented.

In a presentation, project manager Naseer Khan said to ensure the effective implementation of those plans, the Provincial Land Utilisation Project in collaboration with the World Bank sponsored Khyber Pass Economic Corridor Project of the provincial government would serve as a platform for all stakeholders to successfully execute the scheme.

Published in Dawn, October 7th, 2023