Sind: Govt plans to build new city “Zulfikarabad” near Thatta

[Naveed Yaseen]

By Tahir Hasan Khan

Karachi

A new city “Zulfikarabad” will be constructed on the National Highway near Thatta and it will be the second largest city in Sindh after Karachi.

Addressing a news briefing on Monday, State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Samsam Ali Bukhari said that the decision to this effect was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by President Asif Ali Zardari at Bilawal House.

Bukhari rejected the impression that the proposed city would be a burden on the resources of Sindh and that the population influx from other provinces in this city would convert the local population into a minority.

He said that every citizen of Pakistan, irrespective of his location, has the right to live anywhere in the country. According to President’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar, Asif Zardari has assigned the Sindh government to identify about one million acres tract of unproductive, barren and non-useable state land in District Thatta that can potentially be used for building an entirely new city in Sindh. The President directed that the land identification be completed within weeks so that he could take the proposal to Chinese investors during his next visit to China after his scheduled visit next week.

According to the spokesman, once the land is identified expressions of interest will be invited from international consultants of repute to give basic design concept of the new proposed city. The President’s plan to build an entirely new city in the province is aimed at easing the problem of congestion and overcrowding of main cities as well as serving as a catalyst for change through social uplift, economic development and infrastructural upgradation.

Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad, Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, some federal and provincial ministers, senior federal and provincial government officials besides some architects from private sector attended the meeting.

The proposed city project was visualized by the President sometime back as the influx of people from inside and outside the country in Karachi and Hyderabad has put tremendous pressure on the existing infrastructure in the urban centers that called for giving serious thought to building a new city.

The President remarked at the meeting that Islamabad happens to be the only new city that was built in the country in 1960s and there exists dire need to build another planned city on modern lines, Farhatullah Babar said.

Giving guidelines to provincial government regarding the location of the proposed city, President Zardari said that the land should preferably be identified near the coast and it should be barren so that there arises no need to acquire productive and cultivable lands from the people. “The whole concept is based on the philosophy of converting useless state land into a gold mine,” the spokesman quoted the President as telling the meeting.

He said that the building of the proposed city would generate employment, promote industrial growth and also attract international investors, besides easing pressure on the existing mega cities. He said that some people thought that the area near Jhimpir and Jhirk in District Thatta of Sindh offered a suitable location for the new city but it would be up to the provincial government to determine suitable location.

The President said that the actual work on developing the concept of the new city be undertaken with the help of internationally renowned consultancy firms having vast experience and good reputation in building new cities around the world. He also called for constituting a project steering committee to look after this important task and invite expressions of interest, etc.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=193552