In a session of the Senate Standing Committee on Environment, the issue of relocating industrial units from the residential areas of the capital to sector I-17, which is yet to be developed, was discussed.
According to Senator Tariq Azeem, the CDA was unable develop the industrial sector despite the lapse of 15 years while environmental hazards in the capital were going from bad to worse due to profuse waste produced in the existing set-up (I-9 and I-10 sectors).
He said that it could take more years to relocate the industries from the city and called for taking short-term measures to avoid further pollution from being caused.
However, the senate body directed the CDA to take steps for relocating the industrial units immediately to the proposed sector I-17. “No more delay is acceptable,” proclaimed Senator Muhammad Hamayun Khan, who chaired the session.
The officials of Pakistan Environment Protection Agency informed the committee that 200 industries were currently functional in the residential areas of the city. Those operating in I-9 and I-10 sectors include eight steel mills, four re-rolling mills, five oil and ghee mills, 31 marble-cutting and polishing centres, about 10 pharmaceutical factories, 23 industries of metal works and engineering and 25 flour mills. Another 84 industries are functioning in the residential areas.
“We have received criticism from certain quarters, but we are settling issues with the affected populace and the business community. It takes years and years to develop industrial sectors,” said the CDA chairman while responding to Senator Tariq Azeem. He added that industrialists from Peshawar and other cities had also contacted the CDA for acquiring land in the under-development sector.
“Many industrialists are anxiously awaiting CDA’s new industrial zone project, but due to the apathetic attitude on the part of the civic body no progress has been made on it,” an official said. “After the announcement of the new zone, a few industrialists even vacated their plots and started preparations to move to the proposed location,” he added.
Around Rs5.82 billion is required for the development of the new industrial zone. But due to scarcity of funds, the CDA was unable to release the pledged amount.
From time to time, people from the sectors H-16 and I-17 have staged protests outside the CDA Headquarters, threatening not to allow work on the construction of the zone unless they were compensated against their land. The last protest was held about 20 days ago.
On Thursday, the CDA chairman claimed that the issue of compensation was resolved. He said that the trader community was ready to pay the compensation amount to affected people.
However, the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) has not announced any package to aide the process of relocation, which was earlier requested by CDA officials. A traders’ representative said that the matter did come under discussion in the ICCI meeting.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 4th, 2011.
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