Gandhara Valley City: Land acquisition advertised, consultant hired, CM told

PESHAWAR: Acquisition of land for the Gandhara Valley City, the largest residential project of the province, has been advertised under the land-sharing formula whereas a consultant hired for the master planning, a meeting was told on Tuesday.

Chaired by Chief Minister Mahmood Khan, the meeting was briefed about various aspects of the project with a special focus on the mechanism for the acquisition of land for the project.

Provincial Ministers Kamran Bangash, Ishtiaq Urmar, Secretary for Local Government Shakeel Ahmad, Secretary for Information Arshad Khan, Director General Peshawar Development Authority Ammara Khan, Peshawar Press Club President M. Riaz, senior journalist Arshad Aziz Malik and other relevant officials attended the meeting, said a handout.

The participants of the meeting were told that the master plan of the project would be prepared within the next six months after which physical work would be initiated on this mega project.

It was added that the proposed Gandhara Valley City is being established on more than 100,000 kanal of barren land situated at the junction of Peshawar and Nowshehra districts.

The project would have all state-of-the-art civic facilities, including educational, medical, commercial and recreational services.

A Media Enclave covering 1,132 kanal of land would be established in the Valley Gandhara City for the journalist community of Peshawar.

The meeting was informed that the project management unit was being established to ensure physical progress on the project without any delay and the recruitment process against key posts, including project manager, would be started soon.

Briefing about the categories of plots in the proposed Gandhara Valley City, the participants were informed that Peshawar Development Authority’s Board has already approved the formula in this regard.

Under the formula, 2 per cent of the total residential area would consist of 04 kanal plots, 04 pc would consist of 02 kanal plots, 30 pc one kanal plots, 30 pc 10 marla plots, 17 pc seven marla plots and 16 pc would consist of five marla plots.

The forum decided to issue provisional allotment letters of plots to the journalists of Peshawar Press Club in the Media Enclave.

It constituted a committee consisting of the Peshawar Press Club president and other relevant authorities to devise a mechanism for the purpose.

The committee would present final recommendations proposals for the approval of the provincial cabinet in this regard.

The chief minister termed the proposed Gandhara Valley City as a flagship project of the KP government and said that the government wanted to implement this project in the possible minimum time for which all the relevant departments would have to fulfil their responsibilities.

Mahmood Khan called for ensuring full transparency in the land acquisition for the project. He directed the officials to immediately complete the establishment of the project management unit, adding professionals should be recruited from the market for the unit.

Peshawar Press Club President M Riaz thanked the chief minister on behalf of the journalist community for his keen interest in establishing the Media Enclave in the Gandhara Valley City.