ISLAMABAD: The government seems to have no interest in carrying out the much-needed revision of the master plan of Islamabad, as it has been sitting on a summary for approval of members of the commission that will do so, since over the last five months, Dawn has learnt.

The CDA in December last year had moved a summary to the interior ministry for onward submission to the federal cabinet for approval of names of commission members, who will perform revision of the master plan. However, the said names are yet to be approved, which shows that the incumbent government, like its predecessor PTI government, has no interest in the matter.

In the said summary, the CDA had requested the federal government for re-consideration of the commission formed by the PTI government, which later became inactive. Honorarium of Rs25,000 was also approved for members for participating in the meeting.

Sources said that CDA had proposed around 20 names for the commission and in a recent development last week, one more name, a member of Islamabad Wildlife Management Board, was also sent to the ministry to be added to the list.

Cabinet yet to approve summary for the commission members

“It is true that we have moved summary in December, proposing names for formation of the commission. But still, there is no development. The good thing is that our summary was not returned which shows that it was not rejected but is facing delay. “So let’s be positive. Hopefully, the government will approve it soon,” said an official of CDA.

On the other hand, the federal capital, which was built in accordance with a well-documented master plan, developed in 1960, has been constantly facing changes to its master plan without any input from professional consultants.

Hitherto, the master plan has faced around 45 changes by successive federal governments, but in spite of these changes, a proper revision has not been made yet. Similarly, the CDA is also facing several challenges for launching people welfare schemes in Zone III, where under the existing master plan, construction is not allowed. An official said that the civic agency, which is going to launch some good schemes – like auctions of restaurants and construction of sports enclave in Zone III, could face some issue, if changes to the master plan were not made. However, other officials said that CDA could launch such schemes without making changes to regulation of Zone III, but they emphasised that overall revision of Islamabad’s master plan is needed.

It is relevant to note here, Doxiadis Associates, a Greece-based firm that had prepared the master plan, recommended its revision after every 20 years. However, no such revision has been made till date.

When the PTI government came to power in 2018, it announced that the master plan will be revised and then-prime minister Imran Khan also formed a commission in this regard. However, the commission, after a delay, prepared an interim report in 2020, which was mostly related to building by-laws and regularisation of certain areas including Banigala.

The said commission left proper revision to a professional firm, which, due to various reasons, could not be hired till Mr Khan’s government ended in April last year. Later on, the said commission was inactive, therefore, it was decided that a new commission will be formed and a summary was sent to the interior ministry for re-constitution of commission, which is yet to be approved by the federal government.

When contacted, CDA Chairman Noorul Amin Mengal said that he had been pursuing the summary and he is hopeful that soon it will be approved.

He said that CDA, ministry and government are on the same page on this issue and a summary had been moved by the ministry to the Cabinet Division for placing it before the federal cabinet. “I do agree, the revision of master plan is imperative,” he said.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2023