THATTA, July 28: Sindh Chief Secretary Raja Mohammad Abbas has said Zulfiqarabad will be city of international standard. It will help reduce population pressure on Karachi, curtail crime and generate enormous opportunities for people along the coastline.

Talking to journalists at the Deputy Commissioner's office in Makli on Thursday, he said during aerial view of the Thatta coastline, he had seen large swaths of barren land which could be turned into farmlands through joint efforts of state and people.

Mr Abbas said that under the directives of President Asif Ali Zardari, 95 per cent of satellite and land survey of the area had been completed and approximately 3,28,000 acres of land earmarked for the city had been handed over to the Zulfiqarabad Development Authority (ZDA).

He said work on a plan would be taken up after completion of the remaining five per cent of the survey.

Elaborating the proposed city, he said, it would have an airport, universities, schools, arcades for government offices using power mostly generated through alternative sources including solar and wind power.

He said four committees comprising officials of the settlement and survey, land record and revenue departments, would review the land survey and prepare a report to avoid any litigation.

During the review procedure, he said, the government would pay compensation for lands acquired from owners.

He said a considerable area earmarked for the project under the sea water would be reclaimed.He said the work on the Gharo to Keti Bandar coastal highway would be resumed soon and the ZDA had approached the federal government for release of Rs2 billion. In the meantime, construction of the Zulfiqarabad expressway from the coastal town of Dhandhari to Garho would be taken up. The president, he said, was expected to inaugurate it.

He said the government was looking into the problem of some controversial land in the Zulfiqarabad city area. The problem will be solved in accordance with law.