ISLAMABAD, March 5: The city fathers have excluded a proposal from the draft of the new master plan of the federal capital under which some areas of Punjab and the NWFP were to be added into capital’s territorial limits, a source in the planning wing of Capital Development Authority (CDA) told Dawn on Thursday.

The source said an inter-ministerial committee formed by the last government, after holding a series of marathon meetings, had approved a proposal regarding inclusion of some areas of Rawalpindi district in the western side of Islamabad and some areas of the NWFP in the northern side.

“It was impossible to incorporate these proposals approved by the former government therefore they have been rejected by the CDA,” the source said.

After removing these proposals, the CDA has sent the draft of the new master plan to the cabinet division and is waiting for the next government to approve it.

Meanwhile, a senior official of the CDA hoped that the next government would not make significant changes in the new master plan of Islamabad. “Because it is a technical matter and I hope that the new government would not change it,” he added.

Earlier the CDA had announced that the two provincial governments had assured the federal government of their cooperation whenever the matter of induction of their areas into capital territory was referred to them formally.

Some areas of Haripur, Murree, Fatehjang and Rawalpindi were proposed to be included in the capital territory with a view “to avoid ill-planned construction activities around Islamabad”.

The original 1960 Master Plan of Islamabad was being revised with the help of local firm Mart McDonalds Pakistan to meet the requirements of the capital until the year 2030. It suggests regularising the ill-planned construction done so far in the city’s Zone-III and IV, which include Bhara Kahu and Banigala areas but allowing no further construction there.

Boundaries of zones III, IV and V would be defined to prevent people from expanding the Simly, Bhara Kahu, Banigala and Chak Shahzad settlements.

But the revised master plan suggests allowing the expansion of the Diplomatic Enclave, the most sensitive area of the capital housing over 35 embassies, towards Bari Imam to accommodate all other embassies established in residential areas of Islamabad.

A huge park has also been proposed on the entire E-14 sector on the pattern of Fatima Jinnah Park for better environment and recreational activities in the capital.

A mass transit plan has also been proposed to expand the federal capital. The rail track now passing through many sectors in Zone-II is proposed to be re-located from the sectors.

Other major amendments in the master plan call for building an education city in Sector H-16, an engineering university in Zone-IV, new roads in Zone-IV, an IT park in Sector I-12 and a central jail in Islamabad.