Islamabad not to be divided administratively

The federal capital has been divided into two session jurisdictions, well-placed sources in the Ministry of Interior told ‘The News’.

The chief commissioner has issued a notification in this regard, bifurcating Islamabad into two session divisions, sources added.

“A session division will comprise 11 union councils in rural area of the federal capital, while the urban area will fall under the jurisdiction of the other session division,” sources maintained.

Islamabad has not been administratively bifurcated and the district would be run under the previous setup headed by the deputy commissioner with the supervision of the chief commissioner, sources said, adding that police setup would remain the same under the overall control of the inspector general of police.

By virtue of this notification, the cardinal edict of the high court restoration order has been complied with.

The Session Division East shall comprise eleven union councils whereas the Session Division West shall consist of urban areas, including Tarnol and Golra. Previously, the creation of two session divisions was being tagged with bifurcation of Islamabad into two separate cities for administrative purposes. This however was never the object of the act that restored the Islamabad High Court. The purpose of the law was to create two session divisions so that the number of judges of the subordinate judiciary could be enhanced to facilitate citizens. Linking the same with two districts would have burdened the cash-strapped economy. In the current economic and international scenario, when every penny is to be judiciously spent, the national exchequer could not bear with the experimentation of enhancing the bureaucracy in the federal capital by making two cities out of Islamabad.

This decision by the government not to create another city within Islamabad, on the one hand will save precious resources of the country and on the other shall save the residents from unnecessary hassle of being subjected to extended bureaucracy. Experts had opined that bifurcation of the city into two would have also compromised security and effective policing in the city. This would also have necessitated division of resources of the CDA and redefining of municipal limits. Islamabad is not a very large city with population estimated at around 1.5 million only. In contrast, Rawalpindi has a population of nearly three million and is one city. Moreover, with amendments in zoning regulations, particularly with reference to Zone IV, the essential rural culture of the city has been diluted and entire city will have an urban character.

By and large the legal community has hailed the establishment of two session divisions and has appreciated that the same has been done without tinkering with the administrative limits of the city. The need was for better governance and not creation of more posts.