Advisory panel notified for Peshawar revival plan

12-member body will draft proposals within 90 days

PESHAWAR: The provincial local government department on Monday notified a 12-member advisory committee for the Peshawar Revival Plan.

Experts from different walks of life including politicians, women, youth, historians, architects, media personnel and government officials will be included in the committee. They will draft proposals for the revival of the provincial capital within 90 days.

The Peshawar Revival Plan has been prepared by the Local Government Elections and Rural Development Department on the directives of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister Mahmood Khan. It is aimed at reviving and restoring the glory of the historical city by focusing on the improvement of regulatory functions.

The plan will address issues of illegal advertisements, billboards, debris, temporary encroachments, banners, streamers, flags, redundant poles, iron structures, rusted vehicles, broken and missing, kerb pavers and dysfunctional streetlights in the city.

Similarly, it will also tackle issues of missing cat-eyes, traffic congestion points requiring minor re-engineering, unattended public parks, open redundant spaces and jumbled up wires of various utilities. These items were identified as major issues which gave the city a bad outlook.

The Peshawar Revival Plan also envisages value addition to the city’s outlook by addressing issues through a seven ‘R’ strategy, which will remove, repair, realign, renovate, restore, revive and ultimately relax the environment of Peshawar.

The plan will be implemented in phases and will cover different major arteries of the provincial capital including University road, Ring Road, Khyber Road, GT Road, Circular Road, Dalazak Road, Nasir Bagh Road, Charsadda Road and Kohat Road.

To ease congestion in the city, slip roads will be built at traffic bottlenecks on University Road. Moreover, to foster the age-old traditions of the city,  its qehva khanas (tea rooms) will be restored along with other historical places, arts and crafts shops. It has been further proposed to install heritage plaques and photo points.

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