CONSIDERATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS IN THE INTEGRATED MASTER PLAN FOR LAHORE-2021

Abstract

Consideration of environmental impacts in development plans is increasingly viewed as an important pre-requisite of sustainable development. Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) or sustainability assessment (SA) may be undertaken to integrate environmental considerations and sustainability of proposed policies, programmes and plans. The examples of environmental assessment of master plans being implemented in big cities of developing countries are extremely rare. This article examines the Integrated Master Plan for Lahore-2021 with respect to consideration of environmental impacts of its development proposals, since Lahore is the second largest metropolitan of Pakistan with over 7 million population facing sever environmental problems. Interviews with concerned officials of plan making and implementing agencies were held to underpin the root causes of inadequacies. The study concludes that consideration of environmental impacts is weak mainly because formal SEA or SA was not done. Lack of public participation, institutional capacity, primary data and absence of a context specific SEA process design for land use planning are some of the obstacles. Despite these, it is encouraging to note that the Plan highlights key issues of the environment, suggests carrying out environmental impact assessment and preparing environmental management plan for major development initiatives