Imran wants CDA to review rules for high-rises in Islamabad

Directs CDA to sit with aviation division to mark negative areas for high-rises

ISLAMABAD: Even as a federal commission works to revise the master plan of the federal capital, the civic agency on Tuesday received an executive nod to formulate rules and regulations — apart from amending existing ones — for the construction of high-rises in the city and to re-designate existing buildings accordingly.

This was decided in a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan in Islamabad on Tuesday. The meeting was attended by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Capital Development Authority (CDA) Ali Nawaz Awan, and the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Naeemul Haq, Civil Aviation Secretary Shah Rukh Nusrat, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) Chairman and Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Chief Commissioner Aamir Ahmed Ali and other officials.

In the meeting, PM Imran was briefed about the existing rules and regulations regarding the construction of high-rise buildings in the federal capital.

Noting the growing population of the federal capital — which had more than doubled over the past 20 years from 805,235 in 1998 to 2.07 million in 2017 — Imran said that there was a need to fulfil the economic and residential requirements of the people in the city while protecting its limited and fast-shrinking green-area.

Moreover, the CDA was told to re-evaluate its policy relating to the handover of the building.

The premier further directed that in place of slums in the federal capital, high-rises should be made. In this regard, a future strategy for handling these housing units must also be drafted.

He said that they need to provide investment opportunities to overseas Pakistanis, particularly in the real estate business, and promoting other economic activities. For this purpose, it was essential that the CDA amend its rules and regulations so that a facility for the construction of high-rise buildings in the federal capital can be provided.

It was decided in the meeting that the aviation division and the CDA will meet over the next ten days to identify those areas where high-rise buildings cannot be allowed due to security or other reasons. He urged that the numbers of such areas should be kept to a minimum.

The CDA was further directed to present a policy next week which would make the process of accepting building designs and plans in the federal capital not only easier but also quicker. For this purpose, he was of the view that automation should be introduced in the process while human interaction and interference should be minimized.

The CDA was directed to review the policy about high-rise buildings in the next ten days.

A 12-member federal commission, set up by the federal cabinet, has started work on reviewing the master plan of the federal capital and has held multiple meetings thus far. It has already decided to seek the input of the public in this regard by setting up an online submission mechanism.

Encroachments removed

The CDA and the ICT administration conducted another anti-encroachment operation on the Right-of-Way along Murree Road in the Malpur area on Tuesday.

During Tuesday’s operation, several illegally constructed shops, rooms, kiosks, boundary walls and other constructions were razed and around 150 kanals of state land was under alleged illegal occupation was retrieved.

Heavy machinery from CDA’s Machinery Pool Organisation (MPO) demolished as many as 60 shops, 65 rooms, 10 boundary walls, 39 washrooms, three water bores, 12 sheds, a water tank and six kiosks were demolished.

Owners of some of these structures and workers attempted to resist the operation, however, the ICT administration tackled the situation and those resisting were arrested.

The operation saw the entire staff of CDA’s Enforcement Directorate participate. They were assisted by officers and revenue staff of the ICT administration. A heavy contingent of Islamabad Police and Rangers and other law enforcing authorities were also deployed. 

Published in The Express Tribune, February 13^th, 2019.