Work started on Bhasha Dam: Dr Nadeem

Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Dr Nadeem ul Haq has said that work has been started on Bhasha Dam and its construction phase will take 10 years. While public sector development programme for which Rs 280 billion had been allocated, now due to slow economic activity and flash flood has been reduced up to Rs 100 billion.
He expressed these views while talking to media after concluding ceremony of Pakistan Urban Forum (PUF) 2011 at Al-Hamra hall, here today. He said that during current fiscal year our GDP growth rate would remain between 2.5 percent to 3.0 percent.
Earlier while addressing the closing ceremony of Urban Forum 2011 he said that 90 million youth of less than 20 years age live in Pakistan for which 3 million youth should be employed annually but we can provide them employment if our economy could grow at the rate of 8% for many years. He said that we have evolved a policy for growth enhancing and soon it would be presented before cabinet for approval.
He said that activities are essential with the development of cities and various places should be identified for amusement and entertainment in cities. He said that libraries, playgrounds, entertainment facilities, cinemas and cafes should be in cities and for this purpose special measures should be taken. He said that ownership should be introduced for urban issues and co-ordinated efforts should be accelerated in this regard. Dr Nadeem ul Haq said that to make cities as engine of growth industrialisation is very vital because cities have activity generation, productivity, and creativity.
He said that for smart cities there should be smart regulations because by implementing them we can make our service delivery more effective he said that with planning and effective management we can change the lifestyle in cities and develop cities as smart cities.
He also stressed the need for better governance system in cities. Earlier Project Director Urban Unit Dr Nasir Javed said that during 5 daylong Pakistan Urban Forum experts and delegates belonging to 10 different countries and presented their papers while more than 6700people registered online.
He said that students from 6 universities also participated in the Forum and 35 foreign delegates and 150 local experts attended the various sessions of PUF. During the forum 9 technical sessions were held and 6 round table discussions took place. He said that during the forum very useful and positive proposals were presented and it would be very helpful for us in future. He said that the last lesson we learnt from forum "The future is Urban". Shahnaz Akhtar representative of World Bank, Cathy Julian of Asia Development Bank and other speakers also expressed their views during concluding ceremony. Later, Secretary Planning & Development Ali Tahir presented a souvenir to Dr Nadeem ul Haq.