Commission formed to revise capital master plan

Islamabad : A 12-member commission led by the Capital Development Authority has constituted to revise the federal capital’s master plan within six months.

According to official handout, the Interior Ministry notified a commission, headed by the Chairman CDA, that would carry out the revision of city’s master plan for the next 20 years.

The body would suggest possible regularization of construction that violated the 1960 CDA Ordinance, the master plan, the 1992 Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Zoning Regulations, the 2005 Islamabad Building Regulations and other regulations made under the CDA Ordinance.

Other members included Pakistan Institute for Environmental Development Action Research Islamabad Executive Syed Ayub Qutub, United Nations Settlement Programme Habitat Programme Manager Jawed Ali Khan, former CDA Member Planning and Design Asad Mehboob Kayani, the incumbent Member Planning, the Director General of the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency, the Director General of the Rawalpindi Development Authority, the Physical Planning chief of the Planning Commission, Islamabad’s Chief Metropolitan Officer, the CDA’s master plan Director and a renowned architect and a town planner to be nominated by the Pakistan Council of Architects and Town Planners.

The notification also carried the name of Dr Ghulam Abbas Anjum, the former Dean of Faculty of Architecture and Planning at the University of Engineering and Technology, who died a few days ago.

When the Cabinet decided on the commission members, Dr Anjum was still alive. Doxiadis Associates, the firm that developed the capital’s master plan in 1960, had recommended revising the plan every 20 years.