The CDWP meeting was held on Saturday in Planning Commission under the Chairmanship of Engr. Dr M. Akram Sheikh, Deputy Chairman/MOS, Planning Commission.
A large number of projects related to science and technology including up-gradation of quality assurance and quality control laboratories and establishment of cast metals and Foundry Technology Centres, Lahore. Up-gradation of Nuclear Institute for Agriculture and Biology, Faisalabad were approved.
A number of projects relating to environment also came under discussions. Dr Akram Sheikh directed the Provincial Governments to save the rivers from pollution and work for this purpose. He assured the provincial governments that federal government would provide maximum support for such projects. He inquired from the provincial forest department NWFP to provide the statistics that how much money has been spent on afforestation and the resultant increase in area under forest during the last 30 years.
The Provincial Forests Department of NWFP informed the meeting that numbers of trees per hectare has been increased form 19 to 27 in the last 10 years. In the environmental sector, a number of projects got approved including Forestry Resources Development and Conservation Project of NWFP with a cost of about Rs 1,800 million.
Regarding Crops Maximisation Project-II, Dr Akram constituted a committee to look into the matter and come up with a long-term solution within three to four weeks.
Construction of Bazai Irrigation Scheme, Makhi Farash Link Canal Project were cleared on a cost sharing basis ie 80 percent cost will be met by the federal government and the balance 20 percent by the provincial governments.
Besides this, construction of 48 family suites at Sector G-5/1, Islamabad and construction of office building for the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development in Sector G-5/2, Islamabad also got approved.