MPA calls for revising Quetta Master Plan

ISLAMABAD: Member Balochistan Assembly Sanaullah Baloch on Monday underlined the need for revising master plan of Quetta to revive the glory of the provincial capital by improving its green image and ensuring development activities in a planned manner.

“Ineffective planning and minimal count of anti-encroachment drives provided impetus to mushroom growth of unauthorised housing authorities in Quetta which needs to be tackled at earliest to restore its beauty,” Baloch said while highlighting the issues of the residents.

“Quetta is in dire need of a new master plan as it could not be revised during the last 35 years,” he added.

The MPA pointed out that the residents of Quetta were facing tremendous issues, including poor sanitation, dilapidated roads and water scarcity.

“The government should rectify the prevailing situation so that the people can breathe a sigh of relief,” he stressed.

Highlighting the administrative issues, he said the city still lacks a proper sewage system which was a source of several hygienic problems to the citizens.

“The sewerage system in Quetta has not been upgraded during the last five decades despite the fact that the city’s population increased from 50,000 to over 3.5 million since 1960, he added.”

“Traffic on the major thoroughfares of the city is a mess which prompts the need for building a strong road infrastructure support system to curtail the number of road accidents,” Baloch said.

He claimed that half of the city’s population was dwelling in slum areas and underscored the importance for incentivizing the business community to encourage investment in the housing sector and build housing societies.

On the shortage of clean drinking water, Baloch said the provincial government should take concrete measures to ensure provision of drinking water to the residents.

Meanwhile, spokesperson for the Balochistan government, Liaquat Shahwani told APP that the master plan of Quetta will be revised shortly as the allocation had been made for the purpose.

“The government is in process of hiring the services of architects, town planners, horticulturists, lawyers, environmentalist, engineers and representatives of the business community for revising the master plan,” Shahwani said.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 4^th, 2020.