Islamabad : Romina Khurshid, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister, has said that inefficient monitoring by public sector departments of corporate housing societies is causing poor development in urban areas leading to problems of sanitation, water contamination, air pollution, and urban flooding.
The SAPM was speaking at a seminar on ‘Illegal constructions in waterways in peri-urban areas’ organised here by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI).
Ms Romina said that Pakistan is currently facing the challenge of rural to urban migration while the urban areas are unequipped with the capacity to handle and accommodate the migrants. She further said that development projects in the urban areas are destroying the natural ecosystems especially due to the construction of high-rise buildings.
SDPI Executive Director Dr Abid Qaiyum Suleri said that the issue of illegal construction in close proximity to waterways is a very serious issue in Pakistan. Each year, during the monsoon season, several incidents of urban flooding are reported, he said adding that the development of housing societies is allowed in these vulnerable areas putting the lives of thousands of people at risk.
Farzana Shah, Director-General of Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (PEPA), called for strengthening and improving the coordination among government departments to restore the real spirit of the Master Plan of Islamabad. She told the participants that proper urban planning is just restricted to the central areas of Islamabad city, and that’s why the suburbs like Bhara Kahu and Tarnol continue to expand in a haphazard manner.
She also informed that the compliance of the private sector in guarding environmental laws is quite low and the development of housing societies is allowed to continue despite their being challenged in the court of law. When a court decides against these developments, there is a low potential to roll back the damage already caused. She stressed the need to sensitise the public at a large scale regarding the environmental issues to improve compliance and performance of the public and private sectors.
Former Federal Secretary Dr. Syed Kalim Imam called for conducting the accountability of people in their individual and professional capacity. He was of the view that intellectual dishonesty must be taken as a crime and such people should be held accountable by the authorities concerned.
Shazia Bilal advocate pointed out that according to some estimates over 1,000,000 people in Islamabad live in around two dozen slums showing a visible increase.
Abid Ali, an environmental journalist, said that the EIA (Environment Impact Assessment) requirement is usually overlooked in suburban areas.
