Suburbs on a par with cities promised

CM approves Lahore Master Plan-2050

LAHORE:

Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi has approved the provincial capital's Master Plan-2050 and also consented to a one-window operation facility for expatriate Pakistanis in Lahore Development Authority’s (LDA) housing schemes.

Presiding over an LDA Governing Body meeting on Monday, Elahi announced that overseas Pakistanis would be able to purchase plots from the authority in one day. The plot transfer facility would be provided on the same day. The chief minister said the investment of expatriates was being secured. No bureaucratic snafu would be allowed to disturb them, he reiterated.

Elahi said the residential needs of the growing population would be taken into consideration in the master plan and those living on the suburbs would be provided the same facilities as the city-dwellers to reduce the burden on areas in Lahore. Large-scale planting will also be done to establish buffer zones, he announced.

He said the public transport system would also be developed on modern lines. Alongside this, interchanges and flyovers would be constructed to ease movement. He underscored that instead of acquiring more agricultural land, a multi-storey building culture should be promoted.

The meeting also approved the construction of an overhead bridge for motorcyclists at Azadi Chowk and a flyover and underpass to make Akbar Chowk signal-free. Amendments to the LDA Building and Zoning Regulation, 2019 were also approved.

The board approved negotiations to acquire land in Johar Town and Chak Mozang and resolve disputes regarding LDA Avenue-1. The constitution of a development sub-committee for the LDA schemes was also approved.

Parliamentarians will also be included in the committee. It was also agreed to resolve the unresolved issues in Mouza Kharak, Khyber Block Allama Iqbal Town and Gulshan Ravi according to the judicial and legal orders.

The extension of the payment period for LDA Avenue-1 arrears and the lifting of the moratorium on development work for the Traffic Engineering and Transport Planning Agency (TEPA) were approved.

Regularisation of pending plots in Johar Town and the LDA governing body's previous meeting's decisions were also approved. A master planning consultant gave a detailed briefing to the meeting participants. Economic development, regional strategy and other issues were also discussed.

Provincial Senior Minister Mian Aslam Iqbal, Adviser Aamir Saeed Raan, former principal secretary GM Sikandar, Vice Chairman Sheikh Imtiaz Mahmood, parliamentarians Sadia Sohail Rana, Malik Mukhtar Ahmad, Muhammad Atif, Aamir Riaz Qureshi, Tariq Sana Bajwa, secretaries and others attended the meeting.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi congratulated PTI chairman Imran Khan and other successful candidates for their victory in Saturday's by-elections to the national and provincial assemblies.

In a statement, he said a candidate had never previously won six seats in the National Assembly at the same time in the country's history.

"Imran Khan’s victory is Pakistan’s victory and the results have proved that Imran Khan is the most popular leader of Pakistan," he said. The results are a writing on the wall for the PDM as Imran Khan has clean-bowled the 13-party alliance. The people have hammered the last nail in the coffin of the corrupt elements, he maintained.

The chief minister said the people had full confidence in the leadership of the PTI and they had rejected the imported government by the power of their votes. CM Pevaiz Elahi also stated in his message on the International Day for the Eradication. of Poverty that coronavirus and floods had increased poverty. "Let us redouble our efforts in the fight against poverty and build a society that is not only poverty-free but also empowers the needy," he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 18^th, 2022.