Blame game: RDA short of town planners

As many as 83 per cent of posts vacant in the authority.

RAWALPINDI:

Town planners, often considered the backbone of a civic body, are also held responsible for any haphazard development and commercial activities in the city.

The civic authorities, however, cannot be blamed alone for the unplanned development as 83 per cent posts in the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) are vacant.

Out of 16 related posts in RDA, all six in the planning section are vacant, while seven out of 10 posts in the building control section are also open.

Only three town planners, all from building control rather than planning, are in-charge of 311 square kilometre area. Areas that fall under the limits of RDA include Rawal Town and 64 revenue estates in Potohar Town, excluding the cantonment area.

Further adding to its workload, the Punjab government has asked the agency to add oversight of private housing societies across Rawalpindi Division to its list of duties.

This would also include responsibility for approval of new housing societies. Previously, this fell under the various tehsil municipal administrations (TMAs) in the division.

According to officials, six town planning posts were filled during 2010-11 on contract basis, but four of them left the authority within months of each other.

The officials blamed Town Planning Director Jamshed Aftab’s ‘attitude’ for their resignations.

In addition, the other two town planners, whose contracts expired a few months ago, are waiting for their contracts to be renewed for another term.

On the other hand, Aftab said he was unaware that any sanctioned posts for town planners are vacant.

Aftab added that the Punjab government has presently barred new recruitment. “Any vacancies will be filled immediately after the ban is lifted,” he added.

Rawalpindi Commissioner Zahid Saeed, who also holds the additional charge of RDA director general, told The Express Tribune that the absence of professional town planners was adversely impacting the performance of the authority.

On the renewal of contracts and fresh recruitments, Saeed said a committee on regularisation had refused to extend the contracts, saying that the RDA should draft its own set of rules for regularisation and new hiring, rather than rely on provincial government rules.

“I have directed officials to draft a new set of rules for the authority. The issue will be resolved as soon as the process is completed,” Saeed added.

When asked about the delay in drafting the rules, the commissioner said the RDA was presently collaborating with the Punjab Urban Unit to define the city’s territorial limits.

Tauqir Awan, a CDA town planner, said development authorities usually receive requests from individuals, firms and departments regarding their respective developmental plans on a day-to-day basis. He said it is therefore the responsibility of town planners to verify if the proposed plans are compatible with planning bylaws.

“If an authority is well short of the number of town planners required, it would have to compromise on standards, which results in bylaw violations and haphazard development,” Awan observed.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 18^th, 2015.