 From independence
until 1958
Pakistan's capital
was Karachi in Sindh
in the far south.
Worries about the
concentration of
investment and
development in that
city are said to
have led to the idea
of building a new
capital in a
different location.
In 1958, during the
administration of
Pakistani President
Ayub Khan, a site
immediately north of
Rawalpindi was
chosen as the
permanent capital.
After the Partition
of India, the
Urdu-speaking
Mohajir refugees
filed into Karachi
and began to
dominate the civil
service. It was this
hegemony of the
Mohajirs that the
succesion of
Northern and Punjabi
leaders of the
country wanted to
break. In light of
this it was decided
that the capital
would be shifted.
Rawalpindi was
designated as the
temporary capital,
and work on the new
capital began during
the 1960s. The first
step was to
transplant several
villages that had
been on the desired
site for hundreds of
years. When the
villagers refused to
sell up and leave
their crops and
ancestral lands,
they were brutally
moved and never
recompensed
properly.
The planning and
construction was
largely headed by
the Greek urban
planner Constantinos
A. Doxiadis. His
plan revolved around
the building of the
city in sectors,
each containing four
sub-sectors
separated by green
belts and parks.
There was a strong
emphasis on greenery
and open space.
In 1967, the capital
was officially moved
from Rawalpindi to
Islamabad. The city
was divided into
Rural and urban
Areas. The urban
area was managed by
CDA Capital
Development
Authority, while
Rural area was
divided into 12
union Councils.
Among these 12 union
councils, union
Council Koral is the
biggest and the most
developed Union
council.
When Islamabad was
finally built,
growth was slow, and
the government did
not fully relocate
to the city from
Rawalpindi until the
1980s. During this
time the capital's
population was
small, at around
250,000.
 This
changed dramatically
during the 1990s
with the population
increasing,
instigating the
building of new
sectors. The Capital
Development
Authority (CDA) was
established on June
14, 1960 (first by
an executive order
issued on June 24,
1960 entitled the
Pakistan Capital
Regulation, and
superseded by the
CDA ordinance issued
on June 27, 1960 by
the National
Parliament) and
accorded the task of
developing Islamabad
as well as all major
government
buildings. According
to the CDA
ordinance, the
Ministry of the
Interior appoints
all members of the
board of governors
of CDA who in turn
appoint all CDA
functionaries under
them in consultation
with the Ministry of
the Interior. The
CDA is also
responsible for
running the city of
Islamabad and
provides most city
services.
On October 8th 2005,
an earthquake hit
northern parts of
Pakistan and was
also felt in
Islamabad. The
earthquake destroyed
the Margalla Towers
located in sector
F-10. The collapsed
building was the
only one destroyed
in the city.
Subsequent surveys
of the collapsed
building showed that
the building was
made from
sub-standard
material. The
residents of the
buildings had sent
several complaints
to the Capital
Development
Authority to which
no satisfactory
response was sent.
More recently, the
Prime Minister of
Pakistan has said
that a separate
building code be
implemented for
Islamabad. |
