In the way of development: Environmentalists object to LDA’s Lahore Master Plan

The LDA is planning to declare agricultural land, east of Lahore, an urban area.

LAHORE:

Lahore Development Authority held a public meeting on Thursday to discuss its plans to declare agricultural land, east of Lahore, an urban area under LDA’s 2021 Lahore Master Plan. Under the plan, areas adjacent to Bedian Road, BRB Canal, Hadyara Drain, Khaira Distributary, Burki Road and Shalamar Link Road will be declared urban areas.

LDA Metropolitan Planning Director Shakeel Anjum Minhas told The Express Tribune that the LDA was proposing to change permissible land use in the area [for purposes other than agriculture]. The authority would develop basic infrastructure for the purpose, he said.

Most of the participants at the meeting objected to the proposal, saying this would not contribute positively to the social and physical structure of the city.

Rabia Ezdi, an urban development expert, said growing city sprawl was not a positive model for development. “City boundaries need to be demarcated and limited.”

She said the argument that all cities grow with time was redundant. “As outlined in LDA’s master plan, most of the land will be used to build gated housing societies for the elite, thereby isolating lower classes, especially current residents of the area.”

Lahore Conservation Society general secretary Imrana Tiwana said once the land was declared open for urban use, green cover in the area might be removed with impunity.

“The LDA is not a neutral authority in this regard. It stands to profit from the development,” Tiwana said. She suggested that a third party be included to ensure that the LDA adhered to international standards of urban planning.

Lahore Conservation Society president Kamil Khan Mumtaz said there was no need to change the urban model of Lahore. The government, he said, only wants to balance the landfills of high and low density areas.

Rafia Kamal, a member of the Park Bachao Tehreek, said the basis of the master plan was not consistent with international environmental standards. She said international standards for city planning required a city to have 35 to 40 per cent green cover. “Only 5 per cent of Lahore is green.”  Most of the people at the meeting said that the public hearing was a formality that the LDA had gotten out of the way. They did not think that the LDA would take their views into consideration as the hearing did not have legal standing.

Minhas said that the LDA had adhered to planning standards in the propose plan. He said they would take into account the recommendations and suggestions made at the hearing, “within the sphere of the law”.

There will be no more public hearings on the issue, as only one is required, he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 31^st, 2015.