Faisalabad's 2021-41 master plan remains in limbo

Technical circles and town planning experts have expressed concern over the delay in finalising and enforcing the Faisalabad Master Plan 2021-41, saying uncertainty over the city's future development framework is affecting long-term planning. The master plan, described by experts as a key document for the city's future economic and urban development, was approved by the Faisalabad Development Authority (FDA) Board of Governors on Dec 22, 2022. Sources said the Lahore High Court later struck down the master plan after finding that the required Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) had not been obtained before its finalisation. Abdul Ghaffar, a retired WASA director, said private housing schemes had previously been regulated under the Faisalabad Peri-Urban Structure Plan (FPUSP) 2015, which covered around 912 square kilometres, while the new master plan covered a much larger area. He said the Anti-Corruption Establishment registered a case on July 20, 2023, against Board of Governors Chairman and MPA Mian Waris Aziz and then FDA Director General Zahid Ikram over alleged provision of undue benefits to private housing developers. According to Ghaffar, the LHC directed the FDA on March 26, 2024, to obtain a fresh EIA report from the Environment Department. The FDA subsequently filed an intra-court appeal, which was dismissed on Sept 15, 2025. He said that following the dismissal, the FDA had again adopted the 2015 peri-urban structure plan, which had become obsolete after approval of the new master plan in 2022. He also claimed that areas designated as residential zones under the 2021-41 master plan had now been treated as green zones under the peri-urban plan, while development work by a private housing scheme was continuing in one such area. Architect Amjad Ali Khan said the FDA had earlier awarded a contract worth Rs50 million for preparation of the master plan, which was subsequently scrapped. "If the zoning structure changes, the FDA may have to revise the existing master plan or prepare a new one, and either option would require additional funding," he said. Town planner Nadeem Khursheed said an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in Pakistan was a statutory decision-support and regulatory instrument for assessing the environmental and related social consequences of proposed development projects. He said an EIA was intended to identify potential environmental impacts, prescribe mitigation and management measures, facilitate public participation and enable the competent environmental authority to determine whether a project could proceed and under what conditions. FDA Director General Chaudhry Muhammad Asif said the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report had been sent to the Director General Environment Punjab for vetting and an open public hearing, which was still awaited. He said that in the absence of the struck-down master plan, the Faisalabad Development Authority (FDA) was bound to approve layout plans for new housing colonies in accordance with the peri-urban structure plan adopted in 2015 by the then City District Government.