ISLAMABAD: The much-delayed formation of master plan commission to revise blue print of the capital city echoed in the upper house of the parliament on Friday, with Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar assuring the house that the matter would be placed before the federal cabinet in the next meeting.

The issue was taken up in the Senate by Senator Kamran Murtaza during question-hour session stating that on the direction of the Islamabad High Court, revision of Islamabad’s master plan was to be carried out; however, he said that this issue has been lying pending for the last five years.

In response to his question, the law minister informed the house that a commission had been formed, which after preparing some reports, became inactive. In 2022, the term of the commission members also expired.

Subsequently, he said that a summary for formation of a new commission was prepared but the interim government did not approve it. However, he added that a new summary had been moved to the Cabinet Division and the cabinet secretary would be asked to place it before the cabinet in the next meeting.

Mr Tarar also said that with the expansion of Islamabad, there was a need to revise of the capital’s master plan.

Senator Danesh Kumar said the summary for setting up of a new commission had been facing red-tape for the last two years and it should be approved on priority basis, adding that the cabinet should also look into the reasons for the delay.

Senators Dost Mohammad Khan and Bilal Ahmed Khan also called for early formation of the new commission.

While concluding the debate, the law minister said: “Finally, the summary has been moved to the Cabinet Division and it will be discussed in the next cabinet meeting.”

Earlier, in its written reply, the interior ministry informed the house that earlier the appointed commission had held numerous meetings to discuss the existing situation of the city and explore solutions to the problems.

“As a way forward, the commission suggested to hire the services of consultants to review the master plan of Islamabad …. the Federal Commission, after detailed deliberation and working prepared some document. The federal cabinet appreciated the work of the commission and subsequently the CDA Board in its meeting held on Dec 2, 2019 adopted the interim report on the review of the Islamabad Master Plan (2020-2040) prepared by the commission,” read the reply.

The interior ministry’s reply said that the federal cabinet, in its meeting held on Jan 23, discussed this issue and directed the interior ministry and the CDA to resubmit the summary with additional information and some changes.

The reply further stated: “In compliance with the above decision of the federal cabinet, an amended summary was submitted to the interior ministry on Feb 16. The decision of the federal government is still awaited.”

Doxiadis Associates, a Greece-based firm that prepared the master plan, had recommended its revision after every 20 years in accordance with the needs of the time.

However, successive governments did not bother to make proper revision rather kept focusing on selective changes without any input from professionals, resulting in poor planning in the capital city. So far, 45 changes have been made to the original master plan by the successive federal cabinets. On the other hand, Islamabad has been facing rapid growth in its population.

Published in Dawn, December 14th, 2024