An inordinate delay in the development of a new industrial estate in sector I-17 by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) has not only increased burden on the already existing industrial area, but also increased pollution in the densely populated sectors I-9 and 1-10.
The decision to develop I-17 was taken by CDA in 2008 when it was decided that an industrial zone would be developed with the collaboration of the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ICCI), for which CDA was to acquire land. A committee was constituted to prepare the modalities for the development of the sector after land acquisition.
The committee consisted of former ICCI president Muhammad Ijaz Abbasi, former CDA director Land and Rehabilitation Asadullah Faiz and other officials of the two bodies, an official told Pakistan Today. He said over 400 factories were operating in the I-9 and I-10 industrial estates causing water and air pollution in the area.
The industries include steel furnaces, ghee and oil mills, GI pipes, soap, chemical, plastic, marble, spices and printing units. None has inadequate facilities to treat their waste emissions, he said. The official said CDA had also planned to set up an industrial estate in Sector I-12, but it had not implemented either after a lapse of 15 years. He said the delay in developing the new industrial sector meant industrialists were being discouraged.
“If CDA materialises its plan, a number of foreign companies including those from the telecom and IT sector, would set up industries in the federal capital,” he said. He added that the ICCI was making requests to CDA to develop the new industrial estate but to no avail. “The CDA has done nothing to facilitate the industrial sector in Islamabad”, he said.
CDA Deputy Director Public Relations Ramzan Sajid said CDA had acquired land for establishing a new industrial estate. “The development of new industrial estate has been delayed due to various reasons including the low interest of industrialists,” he said. However, ICCI President Mehfooz Ilahi said industrialists were ready to shift the existing industrial zone to Sector I-17 but the matter had been delayed due to the pending writ petitions filed in the Supreme Court by land owners.
Ilahi said land owners had demanded CDA pay the total amount for the land at once, but the CDA’s financial position did not allow for such. Industrialists and businessmen were ready to pay money to obtain plots to set up industry in I-17, he said.
