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Thursday March 28, 2024

CDA gears up review of Islamabad Master Plan

By Mobarik A. Virk
March 01, 2019

Islamabad : It is almost 60 years after the renowned Greek architect, Constantinos Apostolou Doxiadis, designed the ‘Master Plan’ for the new Federal Capital of Pakistan to be named as Islamabad and shift the seat of power from Karachi that the Capital Development Authority (CDA) has decided to go for a comprehensive review of the whole scheme of things with a futuristic view.

Last time the CDA re-visited the ‘Islamabad Master Plan’ was in 1992, when the then Chairman, Faridud Din Ahmed and the CDA Board Members, responding to the conditions in which it was becoming increasingly difficult for the CDA, the only civic body, to provide civic amenities, develop further sectors and maintain basic infrastructure, came up with the Islamabad Capital Territory (Zoning) Regulation.

Under this Regulation the Islamabad Capital Territory limits were divided into five zones. Zone-1, which the CDA decided to keep with itself and develop according to future needs, included sectors up to the existing alignment of the GT Road with Shahrah-e-Kashmir to the point of the Nicolson Monument inclusive of Sector H-14, H-15, H-16, H-17, I-14, I-15, I-16 and I-17.

Zone-2, which was offered for to the big private sector housing societies, consisted of an area bounded by GT Road in the north & north east, north of Shahrah-e-Kashmir and Capital limits in the west, comprising residential sectors G-15 (Part), G-16, G-17, F-15 (part), F-16, F-17, E-15 (part), E-16, E-17, D-16, D-17, C-17 and B-17.

Zone-3 comprised of the Margallah Hills National Park as notified under section 21 of the Islamabad Wild Life (Protection, Preservation, Conservation & Management) Ordinance, 1979, other protected ranges, forest areas and un-acquired land falling between the Margallah Hills and north of Murree Road.

Zone-4 included Islamabad Park and rural periphery wedged between Murree road towards north and Lehtrar road towards south and extending beyond Simly road upto the ICT limits in the north east. This zone excludes the part of Margallah Hills National Park and Rawal Lake.

Zone-5 comprises areas falling south of Islamabad Park and extending up to outer limits of ICT towards South, South west and South east and was reserved for small private housing societies.

The ICT (Zoning) Regulation 1992 is a comprehensive document and had the terms and conditions laid down in the document, it would have helped develop the city in a much more organized and disciplined manner. However, over the last 27 or so years the ICT (Zoning) Regulation 1992 was grossly overlooked that caused the mess which we see around us in the urban as well as rural parts of the ICT.

Now the Interior Ministry, the governing Ministry of the CDA, wide its letter no: F.1-25/2018(CDA-II), has formed a 13-member ‘Federal Commission’ to review the Master Plan of Islamabad with the incumbent Chairman and Chief Commissioner of Islamabad, Amir Ali Ahmed as the ‘Convener’.

The first terms of reference of the newly appointed ‘Federal Commission’ will be to review existing Master Plan and proposal for next 20 years, i.e. 2040.