Islamabad; The Master Plan Review Commission (MPRC) in its recent meeting held on Tuesday has decided to protect and preserve the natural beauty and greenery of Zone 4-D of Islamabad and work on the promotion of the High Rise Vertical Developments. The commission also decided to reduce the current housing footprint in Zone 4 from 55 feet to up to 25%. Moreover, in accordance with the decision of the federal cabinet in August this year the commission will also give its suggestions for the regularization of illegal housing societies by enforcing building by-laws in the outskirts of the city.
Zone 4D Islamabad covers around 23, 600 acres of land as according to the prevailing by-laws the area of zone 4D is specified for projects of natural conservation like farming, sports, recreation, and entertainment. In the second meeting of the review commission, it was decided to make eight sub-committees to tackle the issue at the grassroots level. The statement issued after the second meeting said that the sub-committees formed will investigate and resolve issues including urban regeneration, transportation, climate change, health, education, mass transit, illegal building, environmental degradation, and encroachment. It was also decided to create a public portal to ensure the participation of the masses before the execution of the Master Plan.
The capital city today is facing some serious issues like unplanned construction, water shortage, and Illegal Housing Schemes in Islamabad. The original Master Plan created in 1960 by a Greek firm was to be revised every 20 years according to the changing demands. But successive governments didn’t pay heed to the issue apart from nominal changes. In 2018 the commission was formed to review the master plan. The commission prepared a report and left the remaining work to a firm that could not be hired. Recently the federal cabinet had reconstituted the Master Plan Commission to review the Master Plan. The Commission in its meeting on October 14, set a timeframe for revision of the master plan and decided to complete the revision of the Master Plan within the next six months.
