ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Thursday notified that the newly-appointed chief commissioner will also be looking after the affairs of the Capital Development Authority (CDA), ending week-long uncertainty regarding the new head of the civic agency.

Capt (retired) Mohammad Anwarul Haq, a BS-20 officer of the Pakistan Administrative Services, was appointed as the chief commissioner of Islamabad, replacing another retired captain, Noorul Amin Mengal who was also holding acting charge of the CDA chairman.

After the transfer of Mr Mengal earlier this month, there was uncertainty about the new chief. However, on Thursday, after the interim government’s decision, Mr Haq took charge of the civic agency within a few hours of getting the letter, and later chaired a meeting at the CDA headquarters to discuss finances and ongoing development works.

For Mr Haq, the CDA is not a new stint; before becoming the chief commissioner, he was serving as the member environment. As its chairman, however, Mr Haq will face several challenges to ensure the completion of ongoing projects as well as new initiatives.

Haq vows to deliver, expand civic agency’s tax net

Unfinished business

At present, road projects worth billions of rupees are in progress in the capital, including the expansion of the Expressway from PWD to G.T. Road, a strip of road from Sector D-12 to E-11, construction of 10th Avenue, expansion of Park Road, 11th Avenue project, ongoing widening of a portion of Jinnah Avenue etc.

-It may be noted that the 11th Avenue project’s ground-breaking was held by former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif in June but the work on this project has yet to start.

Deciding the fate of the Serena Interchange and a portion of Srinagar Highway will also be a challenge for the new city boss, especially in light of objections raised by the former prime minister over the construction company which was the lowest bidder; the bid is yet to be approved by CDA.

Above all, he will have to pay special attention to the completion of the development work in Sector I-12, I-15, E-12, and C-15. Except for Sector I-15, the pace of development work in all other sectors has been sluggish.

Similarly, resolution of the parking issues will also be a big challenge for him, as in markets and roads across the city, parking spaces have been shrinking. A parking plaza in Blue Area, which was started in March last year and was supposed to be completed several months ago, has barely made any progress.

The civic issues also need the new chairman’s attention. Residents in G-6 and G-7 are facing drainage and sewage issues while water pipelines are also in a dilapidated condition.

The residents are expecting the resolution of their basic issues, such as the provision of an adequate water supply for which no new source has been explored over the past two decades. Meanwhile, removing encroachment from the city’s market will be a herculean task for him.

The city has no dumping site either whereas there is no serious check on the mushroom growth of commercial buildings in rural areas of Islamabad.

There is also the issue of compensation issues faced by the landholders in Islamabad.

The land was acquired by the CDA but the compensation was still pending. This has resulted in the non-possession of land in the acquired sectors – D-13, E-13, F-13, C-13, C-14, C-15, and C-16.

Meanwhile, the revision of Islamabad’s master plan is one of the biggest challenges.

The blueprint of the city was prepared in 1960. It was supposed to be revised every 20 years, but so far it has not been reviewed even a single time.

At least 45 changes were made to the master plan by successive governments, but a lack of proper revision only led to poor planning.

Once known as the ‘beautiful’ city, the federal capital now presents an untidy look – natural streams have been turned into sewerage lines, informal settlements dot the banks of these nullahs, while at least 100 illegal housing schemes have sprung up across the city in addition to several unauthorised commercial plazas.

The CDA chairman told Dawn that he would take all required steps to bring improvement to the city’s infrastructures as well as the quality of life. He said CDA’s tax net will be improved and the compoundable violations by the property owners will also be settled after a fee. “As far as resolving other chronic issues, let me assure you, I will take every possible step to bring improvement,” Mr Haq added.

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2023