PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pukhtunkhwa government has allocated Rs1.5 billion for carrying out developmental work in the provincial metropolis and revival of the old walled city to restore the past heritage of the city.
This was stated by the government officials on the last day of the two-day workshop titled ‘Sustainable urban development & beatification of Peshawar’, which was organised by Institute of Architect Pakistan (IAP), Peshawar chapter, in collaboration with a civil society organisation, Caravan.
Additional chief secretary Khalid Pervez, Director Urban Policy Unit, Zubair Quraishi, Deputy Commissioner Zaheerul Islam, In-charge Chief Minister Complaint Cell, Dil Roz Khan and Chairman Caravan, Khalid Ayub spoke on the occasion.
They said a master plan was being prepared for the restoration of the historical importance and heritage of Peshawar.
The officials said the provincial government had decided to establish an institution for ensuring legislative cover to the project.
They said in the Walled City work for the revival of the historical heritage was in the pipeline. They added work on preparation of master plan for the sewerage system has been prepared and the project would be launched in May 2014.
The speakers said the city would be cleaned of pollution and turned into a tourist spot. They said most of the traffic problems would be solved through implementation of the mass transit train plan. They said Qila Balahisar would be soon declared a tourist spot and opened for public.
The participants also gave their proposals and recommendations for the sustainable development and beatification of the city. The speakers on the first day of the workshop had suggested that the old Walled City of the provincial metropolis may be declared ‘an open air museum’ to protect its heritage sites and promote its culture.
The IAP members Mansoor Ahmed Khan and Haseeb Khan presented concept papers on beautification of Peshawar and traffic plan. They said the current city of Peshawar was not a planned one while sustainable development of the city needed restoration of its identity and public ownership.
“Smart development should be planners’ priority, instead of haphazard activity,” said Mansoor. He said that it was need of the hour to make the city eco-friendly by planting trees and restoring city’s identity as city of flowers. He said the city had been built on old city’s gardens. He said plantation would add to the beauty of the city and restore its traditional flora and fauna. He said the city currently had no master plan.
Haseeb Khan said there was no commitment to civic planning in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, adding, legislative cover for urban development was also need of the hour.He said the city’s current population was 3.4 million and it was expected to touch 6 million in 2030. He added that about 44 percent area of the city was residential and 22 percent was open area. “The parks occupied only 0.77 percent of the open area while ideally it should be about 5 to 10 percent,” the town planner said.
The speaker said that roads occupied only 12 percent of the area while it should not be less than 22 percent of the total area.
The speaker noted that Peshawar being the largest refugees’ hosting city in the world had also consumed its resources, adding, presently the city had about 433,105 registered vehicles and it could go up to 861,680 in 2031.
