Help of civil society, town planners sought to finalise Karachi master plan

Sindh Chief Secretary Syed Mumtaz Ali Shah said on Wednesday that the provincial government will beautify Karachi with the support and cooperation of the civil society.

The CS chaired a meeting with architects and urban town planners at his office, where he said that the opinion of the representatives of the civil society and urban planning experts will be taken into account while finalising the master plan for the city.

Shah told the meeting that the government is working on the K-IV Greater Karachi Water Supply Project, the Karachi Circular Railway, the Bus Rapid Transit System, the Karachi Water & Sewerage Services Improvement Project, the Malir Expressway and other mega development projects in the city.

He said that the federal government, the provincial administration and the World Bank have been providing the required funds for these projects in the city.

The CS reiterated during the meeting that the provincial government will not allow the construction of any illegal building anywhere in the city at any cost.

He said that under-construction buildings in the city should now carry a board outside their premises with a QR code that enables the public to use their smart phones to ascertain the legal status of the construction duly approved by the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA).

Shah said the Sindh government is devising master plans for 17 cities of the province, out of which plans for Sukkur, Larkana and Islamkot have been completed. Master plans for the remaining 14 cities will be completed by June, he added.

He sought the opinions of experts of architecture and urban town planners for finalising the master plan for Karachi. The planning & development department will give a briefing in the next meeting on the city’s master plan that is being finalised.

The chief secretary said that construction experts should also provide their advice so that the conservation of heritage buildings in different parts of the city can be ensured.

Those who attended the meeting assured the provincial authorities that they would provide the utmost support for finalising Karachi’s master plan. They said that they would also extend their expert advice for finalising mega development projects for the city.

The CS assured everyone that the suggestions of civil society representatives and urban town planners will be fully adhered to while preparing the master plan for the city.

The meeting was attended by Local Government Secretary Najam Ahmed Shah, the Institute of Architects Pakistan’s Arif Changezi, Heritage Committee head Yasmeen Lari, the NED University of Engineering & Technology’s Dr Noman Ahmed, Shehri General Secretary Amber Ali Bhai, the Institution of Engineers Pakistan’s Engr Sohail Bashir, Maria Ansari, Hameer Soomro, Asad IA Khan and the SBCA director general.

Technical education

CS Shah chaired another meeting, during which he said that the model of public-private partnership should be adopted to upgrade the institutions of technical education in the province under the Sindh Technical Education & Vocational Training Authority.

The meeting was informed that there are a total of 250 institutions of technical education across the province, and up to 75 per cent of their graduates get employment opportunities.

The chief secretary told the meeting that the importance of technical education has increased manifold due to work on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project.