FEDERALLY ADMINISTERED FATA URBAN CENTRES PROJECT TRIBAL AREAS (FATA) (FUCP) Tribal Areas Rural-to-Urban Centres FATA Secretariat, Peshawar Conversion Initiative (TARUCCI) SPATIAL / STRUCTURE PLAN FOR PARACHINAR, KURRAM AGENCY FINAL STRUCTURE PLAN REPORT September, 2015 Spatial / Structure Plan for Parachinar, Kurram Agency Final Structural Plan Report EXECUTIVE SUMMARY INTRODUCTION: The FATA Urban Centers Project (FUCP), started with the assistance of World Bank, falls under the umbrella of Tribal Areas Rural‐to‐Urban Centers Conversion Initiative (TARUCCI). The FUCP aims to contribute towards the priority recovery and rehabilitation needs of FATA, identified under the Post Crisis Needs Assessment (PCNA) completed in 2010. It will become a vehicle for social and economic transformation in FATA through provision of better connectivity, employment opportunities, and a range of basic services in its towns and cities to enable them to become engines of economic growth. The TARRUCI has appointed planning consultants to assess the existing services available in the major towns of FATA and produce an overall planning framework that can be used to guide the immediate and long‐term development of the town. The primary objective of this consultancy is to develop spatial/structure plan for the development of Parachinar town, taking account of the projected population growth, possible economic development scenarios, the need to serve existing and future population and other relevant factors. HISTORY: Parachinar has a rich history and has been a summer residence of Mughal rulers, who used to make stop over while travelling between Delhi and Afghanistan. Due to cool temperatures even in summer, Parachinar used to attract many visitors from the plains as far as Peshawar, until the Taliban militancy and sectarian conflict made it an insecure area. After the resolution of the conflict, the area has been declared as militancy free and travel restrictions have eased considerably. It is hoped that Parachinar can once again become a popular summer resort of FATA. GEOLOGICAL CONDITIONS: Kurram Agency area is rich in minerals such as soapstone, dim stone, rock salt, marble and coal. Soapstone is available in industry feasible quantities, but it is yet to be exploited. GEOGRAPHICAL SETTING: According to the Assistant Political Agent, Upper Kurram, the present boundary of the MC Parachinar covers an urban area of 5,250 acres (21.2 squares Kilometres). The town of Parachinar is located on latitude N 330 53’44’’ and longitude E 700 06’ 24’’ at an elevation of 1,726 m (5,663 ft) from the mean sea level. Parachinar is the fourth coldest location in Pakistan. It has a moderate humid subtropical climate with an average rainfall of 781.7 mm (30.8 in). Parachinar is located at a distance of 74 kilometres from Thall on Thall‐Parachinar Road, 180 km from Kohat and 248 km from Peshawar. The town is located on a protrusion of Pakistani territory, which juts into Puktia Province of Afghanistan. Page No. i Spatial / Structure Plan for Parachinar, Kurram Agency Final Structural Plan Report DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS: Most of the Parachinar population belongs to Turi and Shia Bangash tribes. According to 1998 census, Pashto is the most predominant language spoken by 98.6% of population. People are deeply religious minded, staunch Muslims and patriotic Pakistani. Most of the people are doing business, jobs and farming in the town. Around 20% of the present population is out of the town or country due to their business, jobs and security reasons. Present population of town estimated by Political Agent is 186,914. Estimates by other methods give different figures such as 190,120 by counting of housing blocks on GIS map; 207,242 by local knowledge of elders and 229,919 by number of legal electric connections. From these estimates, the Consultants recommend to take 187,000 as population of 2014. For future population three different projections have been made i.e. 285,600 @ AGR 2.14%, 317,984 @ AGR 2.69% and 379,347 @ AGR 3.6%. Since Parachinar is being planned to be an economic, institutional and administrative hub of Kurram Agency, a significant in‐migration can be expected from the rural areas of Kurram Agency. Therefore Consultants estimate that population of MC Parachinar could reach around 318,000 by 2034 @ 2.69% AGR for the next twenty years. LAND USE: Spatially, the town can be divided in four land use zones, as shown on the Zonal Map, Map # 03. Zone “A” in the north‐west is the Cantonment Area which covers roughly 320 acres, or 20% of town’s presently developed area. Zone‐A includes offices of Kurram Militia, Kurram Scouts, Frontier Constabulary, officer’s mess, a primary school, government high school etc. Zone “B” east of the Cantonment Area is the Main Pubic Administration Area, separated from Zone ‘A’ by Malana Forest Road. This zone covers an area of 180 acres and is comprised of large public land uses prominent among them are: FATA Development Authority office, Circuit House, Governor House, Political Agent and APA offices and several other government offices and institutions. Zone “C” Old Town Area, is the main city center/market place, which lies at the core of the town and covers 70 acres. It is mixed land use area including main business centre. The building density in this area is comparatively high with most of buildings having 2 to 3 storey structure. Zone “D” Housing Clusters, accommodates housing colonies, scattered in medium and small size clusters in the south‐east quarter of the town. This zone is served by several important roads of the town including, Burki Road, Charmari Road, Nastikot Road etc. VISION: Parachinar is visualized as a model, eco‐sustainable modern city, a focal point of social and economic services delivery to a large local and regional population and a symbol of good local governance. URBAN STRATEGY: Parachinar has a radial road pattern. Emanating from the old town, roads radiate in all directions. Urban development has followed these roads leaving large vacant areas in between. The most significant being Thall‐Parachinar Road (TPR) which attracted large public land uses causing linear Page No. ii Spatial / Structure Plan for Parachinar, Kurram Agency Final Structural Plan Report development on both sides of the road. Such ribbon development is not desirable as it results is spread out development causing unnecessarily long distances to be travelled daily and making infrastructure development more expensive. The core issue is to discourage the sporadic ribbon development and create spatial pattern, which is more compact with efficient road network, providing lateral connections among roads radiating towards south & north. The spatial pattern so developed is bounded on south and west by a proposed ring road roughly running along the proposed Municipal Boundary. STRUCTURAL PLAN PROPOSALS: Commercial area for the town has insufficient road capacity to serve the present traffic. Therefore, it is not likely to meet future needs. It may be necessary to disperse some traffic generating activities in new location and provide another commercial sub centre. With respect to future growth, Consultant propose the following. i. A major east‐west road is proposed to connect TPR with Nastikot Road, crossing Dander Road on the way. In the first stage, this road will be built upto Dander Road and provide access to future sub‐center, whole sale market, small scale industrial area and residential townships. ii. Area between Dandar Road and Nastikot Road and proposed ring road is zoned for agriculture and orchards. iii. In the long term, a ring road along the south and west boundary of the town will be required iv. Area between Stadium/Karakhela Road and Teri Mangal Road has been zoned as park and the proposed tourism area. The rest of the land is proposed for agriculture and orchard development v. The quadrant between Teri Mangal Road and Maikai Road is zoned for expansion of civil and military functions and a solar park with grid station. vi. The Northeast quadrant between Maikai road and Kirman is reserved for agriculture development, proposed Family Park and future housing. vii. All the area south of Kirman and east of TPR, is proposed for community facilities, recreational land uses and for solar park. Page No. iii Spatial / Structure Plan for Parachinar, Kurram Agency Final Structural Plan Report ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: • Agriculture Parachinar’s economy is agriculture based with significant potential for potato, rice, pulses, tomato and wheat. The town is famous for a special type of brown rice, which is a local delicacy. Besides, new cash crops and fruit orchards can be developed with some assistance from the Agriculture Department, expected to result in substantial increase in incomes. Agriculture production will depend on availability of irrigation water. Besides increase in the number of solar tube wells, supply will have to be increased by construction of check/recharge dams, and reuse of waste water. Farmers will need to be helped with the marketing of their produce at the best price, by increasing their holding capacity and providing warehouses and cold storages. • Livestock The livestock farming provides additional income support to many households of the area. According to Assistant Director Livestock and Dairy Development, in Parachinar there are 04 veterinary hospitals, 04 artificial insemination centres (each run by veterinary officer), 11 dispensaries and 11 veterinary centres. Ownership of livestock is completely private and governed under customary law. There is a need to initiate a project for on‐farm delivery of veterinary services; increase Awareness, trainings and facilitation for cooperative dairy farming; loans to cattle and sheep farmers; development of a market network for live stock and dairy products. • Fisheries In Kurram Agency approximately 1,824‐acre area is used for fisheries, Parachinar town accommodates 17.5 acres of land for fish farms.