CDA-DWP to take up Sector I-12’s development

Next month’s meeting will also review project to devise feasibility for rehabilitating city’s infrastructure

ISLAMABAD: The apex civic authority of the federal capital is likely to present projects on developing Sector I-12 apart from construction of a key intersection and rehabilitation of infrastructure in the city in the next meeting of its primary review body.

A meeting of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) Development Working Party (DWP) is expected to be held next month. Ahead of the meeting the CDA management has directed the planning department to prepare documents of three projects, including a project concept-I (PC-1) for constructing the Rawal Dam Chowk. Previously, a PC-II of the project to conduct a feasibility study and draft its design had been approved by the authority.

The Design and Engineering team of the authority had drafted a design for the project.

The other major project to be placed before the CDA-DWP meeting is the development of Sector I-12. The sector had been first opened around four decades ago and plots were allotted 10 years ago, but the CDA has been unable to develop it, citing one reason or another.

However, earlier this year, the authority had approved the layout plan for subsectors I-12/1 and I-12/2. The body now intends to start work on the project as soon as its PC-I is approved by the DWP.

The last major project is a PC-II for the rehabilitation of infrastructure of the city. Several initiatives have been outlined under this project including the rehabilitation of roads, water supply, sewerage and drainage system and other services and infrastructure.

A special focus will be on the protection, preservation and enhancement of the green cover of the city in the project.

In this context, the CDA management has decided that an external consultant will be hired to conduct a thorough study.

In light of their report, a comprehensive rehabilitation plan for the federal capital will be prepared which addresses missing facilities and need-based improvement in different sectors, officials said.

“The city requires rehabilitation in all aspects,” the official said, pointing out that little to no major rehabilitation work on the city’s infrastructure had been undertaken over the past five years.

The consultant will be given three months to conduct a survey and present an estimate of the work needed to fix issues across the city.

If required, CDA will seek approval from the federal cabinet to fund this project or else complete it using its own sources.

New master plan

The new master plan prepared for the federal capital addresses much of the issues which are often cited by the businessmen of the city even as it offers little in terms of major changes to the metropolis.

This was stated by the CDA Chairman Amir Ali Ahmed on Saturday during a meeting with office-bearers of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) at the Jinnah Convention Centre (ICCI).

The meeting on the master was attended by the senior officers of the authority. They were briefed on the plan developed by the nine-member federal commission of experts to revise the master plan of the city. The plan, prepared after deliberations for eight months, focuses on the needs of the city for the next 20 years.

Businessmen, traders and authority officials were told that the plan focuses on existing regulations in the capital and their implementation apart from the rectification of flaws in the existing system.

Ahmed assured the participants that CDA is cognizant of the issues of the business community and the new master plan will help resolve most of them.

“There is no change in zoning regulations but high-rises have been encouraged which are financially and economically viable for both the business community and residents of the federal capital,” he said.

The plan further focuses on preserving the green belts, uniformity of zoning regulation, implementation of building by-laws in urban and rural areas, mass transit system, a compilation of consolidated building by-laws, the concept of model villages, he briefed, adding that the proposed changes will also ensure a cleaner and greener city.

IMC gets land for STP

The CDA has handed over five acres of land to the Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation (IMC) to set up Sewage Treatment Plants (STP) in the city. The plants will reduce contamination in Rawal Lake apart from construction of wetlands on tributaries of the dam.

The land has been provided near the Korang Bridge so that water coming from the Korang nullah can be treated before it is dumped into the Rawal Dam, an official said.

Land to build the three wetland has also been handed over. These sites are located in Muslim Colony, Noor Pur Shahan and Mozah Lakhwal.

WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM APP

Published in The Express Tribune, November 24^th, 2019.