‘Comprehensive master plan must to make Faisalabad a modern city’

FAISALABAD: Comprehensive master planning of Faisalabad is imperative to make it a modern, well-organised and commercial hub of the country, said Commissioner Mehmood Javed Bhatti.

Addressing the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) here on Saturday, the commissioner said that Faisalabad was geographically located between two main rivers far away from the borders. Hence, it was considered as one of the safest and biggest districts of Pakistan.

He lauded expeditious growth of the district and said that as a result of it, multiple problems had erupted and we must redress these issues in consultation with the local communities.

He said that the local inhabitants must take the ownership of the city and help the government in finalising a futuristic master plan to regulate the metropolis in a scientific manner.

The commissioner said that he had just taken charge of the division and was not fully aware of its grassroots problems. However, he had noted down the issues identified by the business community and would try his optimum to resolve the same within given circumstances.

Regarding wear and tear of roads, he said that it was generally caused by stagnant water. He further told that weather was changing and we were expecting more rains in coming years. Hence, we must provide an efficient system for drainage by developing a comprehensive system of storm water channels.

Commenting on encroachments, the commissioner said that the people were responsible for encroachments while the departments concerned also removed them half heartedly.

In order to resolve the issue on permanent basis, we must explore out-of-the-box solution, he added.

Regarding parking plazas, the commissioner said that the government had decided to provide funds for under-construction parking plaza outside Chiniot Bazaar. He said that the government would allocate funds in the Annual Development Programme (ADP) as loan for its construction which would be returned back by generating income from it.

He asked the business community to identify more places for parking plazas which could be developed on the basis of public-private partnership. He also assured that the committees constituted by his predecessor would be utilised to give their productive input in their relevant fields. A meeting of commercialisation committee would also be convened very soon to dispose of the pending cases, he added.