The rapid increase in population and ill-planned construction of new buildings in and around the provincial capital are main sources of plethora of civic and health problems.
If this unbridled and ill-planned construction of houses and other buildings was not controlled immediately, the sanitation would be out of control, experts feared.
They said that former chief minister Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan during his tenure, from 1997 to 1999, had planned dividing Peshawar into four zones to control civic problems, which emerged owing to haphazard expansion of the provincial capital.
A lot of work had done on the project but it was shelved with the end of his government, they said.
In the NWFP Local Government Ordinance, 2001, the subjects of master planning, land use, zoning, classification and re-classification are mentioned in section III (i) of Part D in the 1st Schedule of the ordinance.
Under section 35 of the Ordinance, the city district government is empowered to deal with the issues mentioned in part D of Schedule I.
“Under this law, it is the prime responsibility of the city district government to divide the city into four zones including agricultural, commercial, residential and industrial zones,” they said. Unfortunately, the city district government didn`t bother to fulfil its responsibility during the last 10 years since local government ordinance had been introduced, they added.
Under the Local Government Ordinance 2001, planning officers were also appointed at town and tehsil levels for building control and dividing their territory into zones but to no avail.
The non-implementation of the relevant law regarding zoning and building control and no master planning, the civic problems and water-borne diseases couldn`t be controlled, the experts said.
An official of the local government department said that it was obligatory for the owner to approve the map of house before constructing it. “Often the building inspectors don`t bother to visit their respective areas to inspect new construction of houses,” he added.
He said that even if they located new houses then they didn`t ask for the map rather received bribe from the owners.
He said that irrigation channels were being used for sewer, which was a source of many water-borne diseases. As there was no water treatment plant in the capital city, some of the drain water fell into the rivers, which polluted them and posed a threat to aquatic life.
Similarly, the owners of the houses also don`t care for the street, leaving it narrow wherein neither drain can be constructed nor pipes for gas can be installed.“We cannot stop such practices because the authorities concerned have not framed any rules in this regard,” claimed a Tehsil Municipal Officer.
Planning is the first step of any developmental activities. Without planning, the desired results are greatly reduced if not lost at all. This is why that more time is spent on planning in most of the developed countries. Resources, time and even the positive effects of developmental activities on the environment are carefully planned.
The master plan has all developmental activities including roads, water supply, sewerage, treatment plants, residential areas, commercial areas, parks, greenbelts, schools, hospitals, industrial areas, slaughter houses, etc. and also its future extension.
The master plan is implemented in letter and spirit and violation is strictly prohibited. This way a proper city and urban areas are developed and population is bestowed with healthy living and pleasant environment. All the resource is efficiently and effectively utilised.
Hayatabad Township in Peshawar was developed with all the essential facilities, having master plan and building control agency under Peshawar Development Authority. Under the same policy, more authorities were established in all divisions of the province.
Mardan Development Authority, Malakand Development Authority, Hazara Development Authority etc built townships in Mardan, Sawabi, Kanju, Swat, Kohat, Banu and D.I. Khan.
These townships are properly planned and have all the essential services and the developmental activities are executed as per master plan. “A visit to these towns will reveal that more towns should be developed on this pattern and the existing urban area should be improved on the guidelines established for these townships,” an official of Peshawar Development Authority said.
Under this policy, poor of the countries most benefited as three marala and five marala plots were developed at subsidised rates and the burden was shifted to the plots developed for rich, he said.
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