Naya Pakistan Housing Project hits snags in Pindi

Unavailability of land throws spanner in the works

RAWALPINDI: Plans of the government to build low-cost housing in Rawalpindi district have ground to a halt after land to build the project has yet to be transferred to the development authority of the city.

This was disclosed by the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) Chairman Tariq Mehmood while attending a meeting of five development authorities in Lahore. The meeting was attended by the Punjab Minister for Housing, Urban Development and Public Health Engineering Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed.

The meeting focused on reviewing arrangements for the construction of housing societies under the federal government’s Naya Pakistan Housing Project.

While discussing the parameters of the project, Mehmood told the minister that the authority does not own vacant land which can be allocated for the project.

He demanded some time to acquire land for the project with assistance from the district administration.

The provincial minister directed officials of the authority to consult with the district administration in this regard and to inform them about any progress on the matter.

Recently, the Punjab Parliamentary Secretary Adnan Chaudhary had announced that the government had identified land for two Naya Pakistan Housing Projects in Rawalpindi. One site was identified in Chaklala Village area of Dhoke Munshi and the other site was along Chakri Road where the district administration had recently vacated around 7,000 kanals of land.

The site in Chaklala Village is spread over 1,000 kanals and is owned by the Capital Development Authority (CDA).  The CDA has decided to give possession of around half of the land, or 508 kanals to the Naya Pakistan Housing Authority (NPHA).

Similarly, for the land vacated along Chakri Road, Chaudhary said that houses will be constructed on some 3,000 kanals while the remaining land will be converted into a forest.

Senior officials of development authorities from five cities including Gujranwala, Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad, and Rawalpindi attended the meeting along with the RDA chairman and director-general.

RDA extends master plan

With the existing master plan of the city expiring in December 2019, the RDA has decided that the next master plan for the city will be extended to cover the entire district instead of just the city.

For this purpose, the RDA has invited bids from interested firms.

RDA Director General (DG) Ammara Khan said that they want to develop a master plan which covers planning facilities for citizens living in the district for the next 25 years.

She added that the RDA will ensure that the new plan covers all basic facilities for the facilitation of citizens, including amenities such as electricity, gas and sewerage systems as well as road infrastructure in the district and space for the establishment of new schools, hospitals, graveyards, sewerage and water treatment plants, parks and other amenities.

Emphasising on how important it is for large urban centres to have master plans, the DG said that master plans help related institutions start development work on facilities as soon as the need for them is felt or required.

She remarked that the enhancement of the city’s infrastructure was necessary to make it a modern city.

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