LAHORE: The last phase of the process for hiring of a consultant for the preparation of a new master plan for Lahore has been completed; the relevant subcommittee had finished review of technical proposals submitted by three short listed companies and submitted its report to the consultant selection committee.

This was disclosed in a meeting of the Consultant Selection Committee on Monday which was chaired by Lahore Development Authority (LDA) Director General Ahmed Aziz Tarar chaired. It was attended by Chief Metropolitan Planner Syed Muhammad Nadeem Akhtar Zaidi, Director Metropolitan Planning Faisal Qureshi, Water Specialist Muhammad Riaz, representatives of Punjab Planning and Development department and finance department, Chairman City and Regional Planning Department of Engineering University Lahore Prof. Dr. Shakir Mahmood, and members of the TOR Committee Engineer Akbar Sheikh, Kamil Khan Mumtaz and Imrana Tiwana.

The meeting was further informed that three consortia, including Dar-ul-Hindsa (Lebanon), Mine Heart (Singapore) and NESPAK (Pakistan), had been short listed out of the seven companies, which had expressed their interest in the preparation of master plan for Lahore. Moreover, significant progress has been made in the preparation of Lahore Master Plan 2050 and in the last phase of the process for the hiring of consultant hiring, the review of technical proposals submitted by the three short listed companies had been completed.

While addressing the meeting, the LDA Director General said that the new master plan will determine the course of future development of Lahore. "Thus, preparation Master Plan 2050 in a transparent manner was our top priority. Citizens of Lahore, academia, technical experts and other stakeholders have been consulted for the first time before finalizing roadmap for the development of Lahore in the next three decades," he added.

Speaking on the occasion, Kamil Khan Mumtaz said that for the first time consultation has been held by the LDA for the preparation of a master plan, which is commendable.

Imrana Tiwana said that she was happy that LDA had sought the opinion of the citizens for planning for the city.

Prof. Shakir Mahmood said that the appointment of a consultant for the master plan was a difficult and complex step. He appreciated LDA's efforts in this regard.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020