Master plans of 80 major cities to be completed by 2022: Amin Aslam

Islamabad: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam on Sunday said the master plans of 80 major urban centres were underway that would be completed by end of 2022 to clearly demarcate limits of cities expanding rapidly.

The SAPM while commenting on the unbridled sprawling of the cities without proper planning and management, told APP that there was no master plan of any city before the establishment of the federal capital of Islamabad.

Amin said the present government of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan, has taken the initiative to set a positive direction of the fast developing cities across the country.

He said the master plans were direly needed to protect the arable land under threat of greedy builders and housing societies owners. The Punjab government as per Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision of vertical expansion has already banned use of farmland for new housing schemes. It is now conditional with the approval by the provincial cabinet which is an uphill task, Amin informed.

The SAPM noted that a similar plan was being replicated in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. To a question, he said the master plan of Islamabad was developed back in 1960 and it required moderation and review as per the recent population and urbanization trends.

He mentioned that there was need to ensure strict compliance of the master plans of the urban centres to ensure sustainable and liveable cities for the coming generations amid surging phenomenon of climate change.

It may be mentioned here that a UNDP report claimed that Pakistan has the highest urbanization rate in South Asia. It also shows an increasing pressure on the existing housing infrastructure of the country with a 5 percent growth rate of population.