- Advertisement -
KARACHI, Oct 24 (APP):To address the emerging challenges and growing needs of the rapidly expanding city of Karachi, the Sindh government is formulating the Greater Karachi Regional Master Plan 2047 for defining development priorities and guiding future infrastructure decisions.
It was stated by Director General Karachi Development Authority (KDA) Asif Jan Siddiqui while speaking at a meeting during his visit to the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) on Friday, said a statement issued.
He said that the last master plan for Karachi was formulated in 2020 but since then, the city has evolved considerably and new challenges have emerged that were not envisaged earlier.
The Sindh Government decided to update the 2020 Master Plan, leading to the formulation of the Greater Karachi Regional Master Plan 2047,he said, adding that the master plan, being developed through foreign consultants, will serve as the guiding framework for all future development and infrastructure decisions.
Asif Siddiqui emphasized that all key stakeholders had been given special importance in the planning process and KCCI has been included in two of the most important committees formed under the Greater Karachi Master Plan. He ensured that its input and recommendations form an integral part of the decision-making process.
The DG KDA informed that Sindh Government provides a monthly grant of Rs 400 million to the authority while salary obligations alone amount to Rs 530 million, leaving a shortfall of Rs 130 million, which is met through revenue from plot transfers.
“Although KDA possesses the expertise and machinery, we can only undertake projects specifically funded by the Government of Sindh, such as underpasses or overhead bridges,” he informed and added that the Sindh Government was financing all major development works in the city and numerous KDA projects worth billions of rupees were currently underway.
Vice Chairman Businessmen Group (BMG) Jawed Bilwani, who attended the meeting via Zoom, stressed the need for accelerated and transparent action to deal with the issue of the encroachments and reactivating the Traffic Engineering Bureau of KDA. He pointed out that the maintenance and installation of traffic signals in Karachi also fall under KDA’s purview, and the matter is being regularly discussed to ensure the activation of all dysfunctional traffic signals at the earliest.
President KCCI Muhammad Rehan Hanif highlighted the city’s acute housing shortage and urged KDA to start housing and development schemes to cater the growing housing needs of the metropolis.
Chairman of KCCI’s Subcommittee on Upliftment of Karachi, Nusair Siraj Teli, emphasized that Karachi is truly a ‘Mini Pakistan’, contributing over 67 percent to the national exchequer and nearly 90 percent to the provincial revenue.