Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday said that 250,000 jobs have been created so far in the country since the construction activities started under Naya Pakistan Housing Program (NPHP).
“As cadastral mapping is important for eliminating encroachments and enhancing land revenues, provinces should expedite legislation for stopping land-use changes and protection of green spaces,” he said while presiding over a meeting of the National Coordination Committee (NCC) on Housing, Construction & Development held here.
Read more: PM Imran launches cadastral map of Islamabad to end land record tampering
The meeting was held to review the progress made on existing and new projects, read a press release issued by the PM Media Wing.
While receiving a briefing from Surveyor General of Pakistan Maj Gen Shahid Pervaiz, the PM said that cadastral mapping would help in the development of an ‘authentic’ land record database. It would help in clearly identifying demarcation of land and thereby eliminate illegal encroachments, he added.
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Moreover, the premier said that authentic database would also contribute towards enhancing revenues received from lands. “Land-use changes need to be checked where green vegetation areas are being converted to urban projects,” he said.
The Prime Minister advised all the provincial and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) governments to expedite legislation to put a stop to land-use changes.
He stated that the protection of green spaces and agricultural lands was essential for environmental considerations and to safeguard food security.
However, he added that construction projects would be allowed under regulations.
The NCC meeting was briefed that under Phase-I of the mapping exercise, 90% digitization of state lands has been completed in Punjab, 96% in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and 50% in Balochistan.
