No plan to build 'new Islamabad' on the cards: CDA chief tells Senate body

[Salman]

The Chairman Capital Development Authority (CDA) said on Thursday that the civic body was not working on any plan to build new Islamabad city and Margalla tunnel. "There is no proposal (of new Islamabad including the construction of the Margalla tunnel) under consideration, nor has the government issued any direction to the CDA in this regard," CDA chairman Nadeem Hussain Asif told Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat and Capital Administration.

Senator Kalsoom Perveen presided over the meeting and Senator Dr Saeeda Iqbal, Syed Sughra Imam, Rubina Khalid, Begum Najma Hameed, Kamil Ali Agha, Mushahid ullah Khan, Deputy Commissioner Aamir Ali Ahmad and senior officials of the CDA also attended the meeting.

Sughra Imam said that the CDA had chopped a large number of trees during the last 12 years from the National Park area as well as allowed the commercial use of land at National Park. "The commercial use of National Park area has not only disturbed national habitat but also increased the city's temperature up to 4 degrees," she said. The CDA chairman accepted that the zoning regulation had been violated time and again by the authority and said that the CDA had started investigation against the violators. He added that the authority had stopped all future construction at Shakarparian. Committee Chairman Kalsoom Perveen asked the CDA chief to submit the copies of the CDA ordinance and zoning regulation to the committee.

Nadeem told the committee that under the CDA ordinance, the authority could not acquire land for other departments. "We acquire land only for the CDA projects," he said. Amir Ali Ahmad, deputy commissioner Islamabad told the committee that the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration and CDA land acquiring policies were totally different. The ICT acquired land for other departments while the CDA acquired land only for its own projects, he said.

Member Estate CDA Shaista Sohail said that the contract of development of sector D-12 was awarded to M/s Muhammad Ayub and brothers on May 5, 2005 and completion period was 18 months. The CDA had got the possession of 60 percent area of sector when the authority had started development work while 40 percent of land was under adverse possession, she said.

She said that in 2007, the CDA got the possession of another 30 percent land and the remaining10 percent area is still under adverse possession due to which the development work of sector D-12 could not be completed. The development work in the available area of the sector was in progress and allottees had also completed their houses, she said. The Land and Rehabilitation Directorate of the CDA had started efforts to get vacated the remaining land, she said.

She said that tender for major roads and service roads of sector E-12 had been called and lowest bid accepted by the CDA chairman. The CDA also faced possession problem in this sector like sector D-12. Estate management wing of the CDA was negotiating with the affectees and the matter was expected to be resolved very soon, she said.

Managing Director of National Police Foundation (NPF) told the committee that there were 59 affectees who had not been given possession of their plots due to non availability of the land in sector E-11 as Anjum Aqeel Khan, former MNA of PML-N, did not provide the total land purchased through him by NPF as well as affiliated land offered by him. Out of 59 affectees 37 were nominees of Anjum Aqeel while 22 were direct allotees of the NPF, he said.

He said that the Supreme Court had taken Suo Motu notice in this connection and after hearing the argument of parties concerned, the court had reserved the judgement of the case. When the judgement of the apex court would be announced, the affectees would be accommodated, he said. On this the committee directed the MD NPF to find a way out for accommodation of the affectees and submit a report to the committee within one month.