Faisalabad to go green as FDA reworks master plan

District administration unveils new priorities following LHC verdict

FAISALABAD:

Faisalabad Development Authority (FDA) has been directed to immediately obtain the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report from the Environment Protection Department to comply with Lahore High Court (LHC) orders regarding the Faisalabad Master Plan 2021-2041.

Commissioner Faisalabad Raja Jehangir Anwar issued the instructions while speaking to leading media representatives about civic challenges facing the city.

He said the LHC had recently declared the city's 20-year master plan null and void after the FDA failed to secure the mandatory EIA report — a clear violation of the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act, 1997.

The ruling came after a division bench comprising Justice Malik Waqar Haider Rawan and Justice Ahmad Nadeem Arshad dismissed multiple intra-court appeals filed by the FDA.

The commissioner said the FDA must ensure full compliance with environmental laws and planning standards to restore public confidence in urban governance.

Highlighting development initiatives, Anwar announced plans to establish a vibrant food street at Minerva Club to "make Faisalabad a food-friendly and city-of-hearts."

He added that boundary areas of the district would be declared green zones under the revised master plan, with a strict ban on new housing colonies along the outer limits of the city.

"The green cover will be preserved at all costs," he stressed.

Taking notice of the shortage of qualified town planners in the FDA, he directed immediate recruitment of professionals with urban planning qualifications, noting that architects could not head directorates of town planning.

"It's not the job of town planners to approve commercial plazas — their focus must remain on the city's long-term planning and growth," he emphasised.

He further revealed that, for the first time in Punjab's history, an Eastern Wastewater Treatment Plant project had been launched to treat wastewater for agricultural reuse and to help recharge underground water reservoirs.

Earlier, Faisalabad development authority(FDA)had to bow down before the Lahore High Court(LHC) for the second time as more than half dozen intra court appeals filed by the FDA has been dismissed by the division bench of LHC while striking down the master plan 2021-41,on the ground that prior mandatory requirement of environment impact assessment (EIA)by environment protection department had not been sought by FDA before the operationalization of master plan which is a serious violations of Pakistan environment protection act 1997.

The double bench of the Lahore High Court has declared the 20-year Master Plan (2021-41) of Faisalabad as null and void.