ISLAMABAD: The reconstituted commission for revision of the master plan of Islamabad on Monday decided to protect green areas in Zone III and IV through effective planning.

The 12-member commission met with CDA Chairman Amer Ali Ahmed in the chair. Three new members - Arif Changezi, Murad Jamali and Sikandar Ajam — also attended the meeting.

The commission also discussed several chronic issues of Islamabad including shrinking green areas in Zone III and IV, water issues, public transport, etc. 

The commission decided to protect the green areas in these two zones through effective planning.

“People will be incentivised to protect green areas and we will come up with a logical solution aiming to protect green areas and the rights of people as well,” said a member of the commission. 

During the meeting, it was also decided that this commission will complete its task in six months and instead of hiring one consultant firm, a number of companies will be hired for different subjects to complete revision of the blueprint of the city in six months. The commission also decided to meet on a  weekly basis.

Discusses water, public transport issues

The member said that the reconstituted commission was also given a  briefing on the water issue of Islamabad and water related projects.

The commission was informed that as a long term solution, CDA and the federal government were working on Ghazi Barotha water supply project, which once completed will provide 100 mgd water each to Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

The sources, however, said the commission was informed that the project would take many years to complete.

The commission also discussed short-term water solutions such as Chinyot Dam near Simly Dam and Shahdara Dam. These two small dams could add around 20mgd water to the system. The commission directed that small dams should be given due priority to overcome water scarcity in the capital.

The sources said that the commission also discussed lack of public transport and it was informed that on the recommendation of the previous commission, seven routes had been identified and CDA was going to operate buses on three of them in the next few months.

The sources said during the meeting the CDA chairman also told the participants that when he joined the CDA its financial position was very poor but currently the CDA has surplus budget due to intervention and easing of policies.

The reconstituted commission also decided that consultants will be hired for preparing reports on various issues and feedback from the public will also be taken.

The commission decided that with a timeline, the master plan will be revised.

The master plan of Islamabad was prepared in 1960 and was supposed to be revised after every 20 years in accordance with the need of the time.

However, the successive governments instead of going for proper revision opted for selected changes as so far 43 changes have been made in the original master plan.

The PTI government in December 2018 formed a commission, which prepared an interim report in November 2019 but since then a proper revision has not been carried out.Now, the reconstituted commission claimed that it will complete the task in six months.

Meanwhile, retired Maj General Farrakh Javed, who was appointed as head of the commission by the federal cabinet in its meeting held on Aug 17, could not attend the  meeting as his name has not been notified by the interior ministry.An official said the names of the three new members had been notified.

Published in Dawn, August 31st, 2021