Engineers’ body shows concern over non-implementation of CDA’s master plan for capital
The engineers’ body, Institution of Engineers (IEP) Pakistan Rawalpindi-Islamabad Chapter (RIC) has expressed concern over non-implementation of CDA’s master plan, overlooking the interest and basic needs of local residents.
In a brief chat with media, IEP-RIC Chairman Engr Hussain Ahmed Siddiqui said the master-plan of the city that was planned by the famous Italian town planner Doxidis has not been implemented despite assurances given to this effect by the authorities time and again.
It had been originally planned that in the straight lines and all the roads/streets meet at the horizontal and vertical ends. The emphasis was made on building the roads at the natural surface level with minimum fills and water drainage, keeping in mind the natural topography.
Under the master-plan, the city is divided into sectors/sub-sectors with class III, Class V and markaz center markets and other facilities including schools, colleges, parks and mosques etc, so that the residents do not have to go else-where for day-to-day affairs.
The geometric design of the infrastructure comprises three highways; Islamabad, Kashmir and Margalla approaching from Lahore, Peshawar and Taxila. These highways are to be dual carriage-ways with maximum 48 feet carriage-ways (either side) with right of way of 1,200 feet either with service lane. These highways have yet to take their final shape although the CDA is on the job.
Engr Siddiqui further said, said that under the plan all the service roads have to be dualised ultimately and in between the sectors are to have avenues – 48 feet dual carriage-ways. Some of the avenues have been constructed by CDA, whereas a number of underpasses and flyovers are yet to be constructed as per master plan.
About the present situation of the city, Siddique said the ultimate design of the infrastructure had not been materialized and it was resulting into traffic jams especially during peak hours. The footpaths along the roads have not been provided even in those sectors which were completed in the early phases.
Siddiqui further said there was no proper system of maintenance of roads/footpaths. The gangs of road maintenance staff were seldom seen repairing the potholes and there seems to be no arrangement of making bituminous material at the sectoral/sub-sectoral level for filling the potholes.
The use of milling machine, CDA being the first to acquire it in the country, to cut off/level the swollen roads is hardly seen. The use of cold emulsion for repairing the roads seems to have been discarded.
The installation of weighing bridges should be taken in hand immediately so that overweight carriers damaging the roads can be checked. The traffic survey on highways/main roads should be done after every five years so that the design capacity of the roads can be increased by improving or adding another layer of bituminous wearing course or sub-service layer with aggregates.
The maintenance of government houses is also very poor as the simple and minor faults are not being attended. The white washing and other maintenance needs of these houses and government buildings are not being taken care of giving the capital city an ugly look. Similar is the case of horticultural needs, he added.
