LAHORE: The citizens of the provincial capital, during a public hearing, have rejected the master plan of Lahore Development Authority’s (LDA) to convert agricultural land into residential, terming this to be the most disastrous step in the planning history of the city.
The hearing was widely attended by citizens from every walk of life and the Lahore Conservation Society, The Lahore Bachao Tehreek, The Lahore Project and the Park Bachao Tehreek.
LDA plans to convert agricultural and semi restricted areas which are larger than the entire existing urban area of Lahore, a mega city with a population of over 10.5 million. This additional conversion of agricultural land will have an area large enough to accommodate another 15 to 20 million people.
The public representatives said that Lahore is already bursting at the seams, with no integrated sustainable land use and mobility planning. There is a lack of linkages, billions are being spent on mega signal free corridors to facilitate 7% of the population that own vehicles and the rest of the 93% are invisible, they added.
