LDA to take stakeholders onboard

Health, education, housing facilities and pollution-free environment are part of master plan

LAHORE: Lahore Development Authority (LDA) has decided to take stakeholders onboard to align master plan of the provincial metropolis with modern-day needs and future requirements of the swelling population.



Addressing a consultative meeting of different stakeholders on Saturday, LDA Director General Amna Imran Khan said Lahore was a mega city that required close coordination and integration among different government agencies. “It is impossible to ensure smooth flow of traffic on roads, provision of clean drinking water, availability of health, education and housing facilities and a pollution-free environment in the absence of a comprehensive planning,” she underlined.

She said the authority has initiated a process to compile a list of workable suggestion in collaboration with Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA), Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC), utility services departments and real estate developers and builders.

She also highlighted that the  population of the provincial metropolis was increasing annually at 3.4%. “There is a dire need to amend and update the city’s master plan to cater to the need of increasing population. The area of the provincial capital is swelling fast. Though, various government agencies are working for the development of the city but they cannot produce desirable results in absence of the mutual coordination,” she added.



Chief Metropolitan Planner Shakeel Anjum Minhas informed the meeting participants that the city’s master plan was developed in 2004 and it was valid till 2021. However, the authority had extended its scope to Lahore Division in 2013. “The authority,” he said, “will welcome suggestions of different stakeholders to update Lahore’s master plan.”

Chief Town Planner Syed Nadeem Akhtar Zaidi underscored that there was a need to review reclassification proposals about different housing societies, like Faisal Town, Iqbal Town and Garden Town, to rein in uncontrolled commercialisation in the city.

LDA Chief Engineer Mazhar Hussain Khan highlighted that various schemes were underway to address traffic-related issues in different areas of the city. “Shaukat Khanum Flyover is in advance stage of construction to ease traffic congestion in the area. The flyover is expected to be inaugurated on August 14. The authority is also building sports complexes in Lahore, one in each constituency of the National Assembly,” he said while briefing the meeting.



WASA Managing Director Syed Zahid Aziz pointed out that the first master planning for water supply in the provincial capital was completed in 1975. The agency was constituted as the result of the same master plan. “The water and sanitation agency is developing a new master plan which that would be valid till 2040. Under this plan, the city would be divided into various zones. The agency has proposed six wastewater treatment plants for the provincial capital. The WASA is monitoring its pipeline network through GIS system,” he explained.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 22^nd, 2018.