In the Provincial Land Use and Building Control Council meeting presided over by Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan, the “District Land Use Plan” was approved in principle for the six districts of Peshawar, Mardan, Charsadda, Nowshera, Swabi and Abbottabad. The purpose of which is to determine the rules and regulations in relation to the use of land, the allocation and management of land for various purposes, apart from the systematic classification at the district level, the systematic growth of important and basic structures and the future needs of urban and rural areas and to provide guidelines for the sustainable development of these areas. The Chief Minister has directed the concerned authorities to finalize the proposed plans within a week in consultation with the administrative departments and clarified that all the departments will be bound to implement the District Land Use Plan individually. Streamlining land use is the need of the hour. We can no longer afford the indiscriminate use of land.

The first meeting of the Provincial Land Use and Building Control Council was held on Wednesday at the Chief Minister’s House. Provincial Ministers Taimur Saleem Jhagra, Ishtiaq Armard, Faisal Amin Gandapur, Special Assistant to the Chief Minister Abdul Karim, Additional Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah, Senior Member Board of Revenue Zakir Hussain Afridi, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Amjad Ali Khan and other members of the council attended the meeting. Briefing the meeting on the proposed district land use plans, it was told that the proposed plans have been prepared to keep in mind the physical location, climate, geological setting, hydrology and water resources and population and demography of the said districts. Apart from this, practical suggestions have been presented keeping in mind the expected needs and challenges of the next 20 years in health, education, housing, industry, communication, agriculture and other sectors. The existing housing schemes in the said districts have been carefully reviewed and suggestions regarding the additional requirement of housing schemes in the future in proportion to the increasing population are also part of the plan. The meeting was informed that special attention has been given to rural development under the proposed plan, which will help reduce the migration trend from villages to cities.

Apart from this, keeping the objective conditions of the province in front, the areas at risk of flooding in the future have also been identified, while planning for the provision of new industrial zones, commercial centres and other facilities in addition to the proposed road network according to the future needs are also included in the plan. The participants were informed that for the rest of the districts of the province, work is in progress on the preparation of land use plans along the same lines, which will be completed by June next year.

Describing the proposed land use plan as very important, the Chief Minister directed that there should be an effective mechanism for the implementation and monitoring of the plan. If any department has reservations regarding the proposed plan, these reservations should be removed within one week and it should be ensured that there is no conflict between the land use plan and the department’s own policy and rules. He clarified that the final approval of the plan will be given after one week after which all the provincial departments and institutions will be bound to implement the plan. No negligence will be tolerated in this regard. The Chief Minister has also directed to ensure the implementation of the proposed land use plan in a real sense and for this purpose to formulate a formal grievance redressed procedure at the provincial and district level for the convenience of institutions and citizens.

Meanwhile, he has directed to take full action against the encroachments on the banks of rivers, canals and streams across the province and said that in case of flood, the said encroachments cause loss of lives and money, so their complete remedy is inevitable.