ISLAMABAD: The city managers on Thursday decided to construct two new parking plazas—one on a plot adjacent to Centaurs Mall in the Blue Area and one in I-8 Markaz.

In 2022, the CDA started building a parking plaza in the Blue Area near Savour Foods, which was supposed to be completed by March 2023, but it’s still incomplete. The CDA has claimed the work would be completed soon.

Interestingly, earlier this week, the interior ministry during the question hour in the National Assembly informed the house in a written reply that this parking plaza would be completed by the end of “December 2024”.

The interior minister had earlier said that six other parking plazas in different sectors of Islamabad would be started in keeping in view the financial position. Subsequently, the CDA board on Thursday okayed the construction of two more plazas with commercial shops on the ground floors.

It is relevant to note that due to an increase in the number of vehicles and poor implementation of by-laws, parking places in Islamabad are shrinking. In a conversation with Dawn, CDA officials agreed that poor implementation of the by-laws was one of the main reasons for the parking woes of citizens.

They said that parking spaces had been designed in markets and plazas in accordance with the number of shops, but the shop owners altered the layout plan, increasing the number of shops. In a number of commercial plazas, there is no parking facility either.

“The number of shops has increased in all ‘class-three’ shopping centres, while in marakiz, there is a slight violation of the original layout plans,” an official said, adding that a class-three shopping centre in G-7 had only nine shops in the 70s, but now the number is over 70, leading to parking problems.

Similarly, he said the situation in G-7 Markaz was also no different, where the number of shops had increased and a hotel and several other shops were being operated from a plot that was reserved for a cinema.

Meanwhile, the board also approved the purchase of two tree transplanters for relocating trees affected by development projects to alternative locations.

“The CDA chairman instructed that the working process for purchasing tree transplanter(s) be completed,” said a statement. It said the CDA currently acquired tree transplanters from various departments on a rental basis for relocating trees. Meanwhile, the board also approved the open auction of commercial plots, likely to be held in February.

The board directed the CDA to ensure that the plots presented for auction are equipped with all basic amenities and free from encroachments.

The board also formed a committee to be headed by member administration to look into the issue of kiosks in Islamabad. The committee would also decide if there was a need for kiosks in Islamabad and if required, what would be their design and location, and the mode of auction.

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2025