LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi approved the ‘New Murree Master Plan’ on Thursday.

The project directors informed the meeting’s participants details of the project including its tourism importance for Pakistan. They said that the project was of international standard and would reflect human development while keeping natural beauty intact. The environmental demands have been kept in view during the plan’s preparation, they added.

According to the plan, new roads will be constructed to connect ‘New Murree’ with Islamabad and other areas. A monorail will also be built. They city would be constructed six to seven thousand feet above sea level. Modern hotels, parks, play grounds, hiking tracks and shopping malls would be constructed.

The CM said that jobs would be created for locals with the establishment of New Murree. He said that the plan falsified the criticism that New Murree would lead to deforestation. He said that the project administration had prepared a record of all the trees in the area and their protection was the top priority of the government.

Elahi said that the project’s objective was to provide tourists opportunities to observe the scenic beauty of Pakistan and the government was taking measures to expand the forests in the area.

http://dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_29-7-2005_pg7_1
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^I saw the animated renderings on TV, the monorail looked awsome.
It will be built on 4111 acres of land its thrice the size of Muree.

i saw it on ary digital in the news

can anyone post that clip plz plz plz thanks you.. wish to see it too..

wow, great news, i was thinking it was shelved/

any pictures,

can the mod also rename the topic to 'OFFICAL NEW MURREE TOPIC' and post all news of new murree here.

‘New Murree project in harmony with environment’

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: Officials of the New Murree project said on Monday that the project was “in complete harmony with the environment”.

Talking to reporters at Punjab House on Monday, New Murree Development Authority Managing Director Azmat Ranjha, Punjab Secretary Information Temoor Azmat Islam and NESPAK’s consultant Tahir Shamshad said that the project had been evolved keeping in view the highest standards of environment protection and there was no question of environment pollution or loss of forests.

The Punjab government – after considering four sites in Ban, Barian, Charihan and Patriata – selected Patriata for the development of a tourist city at an estimated cost of Rs 40 billion which will cater the needs of 60,000 tourists daily.

The director general said that an area of minimum trees growth had been selected for the project and the designing and planning of houses had been undertaken in such a manner that the authority would not have to chop even a single tree. He said that all trees in the project area had been numbered with steel plates to ensure their protection.

The project covers 4,111 acres of land, includes 3,849 acres of the Murree Forest Division and 262 acres of the Rawalpindi North Forest Division. Forests in Patriata have been kept in a reserved category.

Environmentalists have shown concerns on possible ecological catastrophes by the proposed project which is being started without acquiring a no-objection certificate from the Pakistan Environment Protection Agency.

The officials said that environmentalists’ objections were based on the pre-feasibility study carried out in 1998 while the present layout had ratified all those concerns.

They said that the project included a golf resort with a golf course of an international standard, a five-star golf resort hotel and golf villas which would be connected to the central town by a monorail.

The town centre of the resort will consist of municipality buildings, a hospital, a picnic area and viewing terraces. There will be restaurants, arts and crafts shops, boutiques, hotels and a five-star hotel on the Mall with a four-kilometre monorail track connecting the town to a culture complex.

The culture complex will house an auditorium with 300 seats, an amphitheatre with 500 seats, an art and craft museum, art galleries and a boutique hotel. The residential complex will have 850 houses varying in size between 2,000 to 4,500 square feet.

There will be a sanctuary to preserve nature in its original form and allow the people to enjoy the pristine environment. An area has been earmarked for a camping ground where campers will be provided with facilities of international standards.

The officials said that a unique concept of infiltrated houses had been introduced, adding that housing units would be built on raised platforms, so as to allow water to pass underneath. They said that there would be a ban on vehicles running on diesel inside the project area, and monorails and cable cars would be run on electricity to mitigate the environment pollution. The project officials said that they would soon brief the National Assembly standing committee on the project which had earlier raised concerns over the environmental and geological aspects of the project.

Exclusive facilities planned for the elite in New Murree
Officials say the project will not be an environmental disaster
ISLAMABAD: Punjab authorities Monday unveiled an ambitious but controversial New Murree Project that promises a dream world offering exclusive facilities for the elite.

In a briefing addressed by New Murree Development Authority Director-General Azmat Ranjha, it was promised that the project costing Rs40 billion would be unique in the world and would not be environmentally a disaster.

Ranjha revealed that the New Murree would contain a selected housing capacity of 850 units only and it would be approachable only through cable cars and mono train system.

Though he revealed that the press briefing was organised to dispel negative impression about the project, but to his bad luck most journalists attending the briefing were critical of the project and raised technical queries, most of which remained unanswered.

He said that the New Murree, to be fully developed in ten years, would be one of the biggest tourist resorts in the world, said the official.

The New Murree Project, spread over an area of 4,111 acres, would have exclusive facilities for the elite like an 18-hole international standard golf course, five-star golf resort hotel, golf villas, health and spa facilities, a six-star hotel, international standard restaurants and a boutique-restaurant.

A total of 850 houses, varying in sizes between 2,000 and 4,500 square feet would be constructed in available spaces between trees. The official admitted that there would be a lot of human activity, as the New Murree Resort would receive over 60,000 tourists daily once it is fully development after ten years.

NMDA Director-General Azmat Ali Ranjha, however, said that only 4,000 trees would be cut to develop the New Murree Resort, 78 kilometres northeast of Islamabad and 24 kilometres southeast of Murree. "Only one per cent of the total 400,000 tree population would be cut," Ranjha said. He said that around 85 per cent of area would be kept for forests, open area and parks. "We would keep 2,892.1 acres out of the 4,111 acres area for forests as development activity would be in incomplete harmony with the environment, he said.

To question, Punjab Information Secretary Taimur Azmat Sultan said that the New Murree Project is being undertaken under an Act passed by the Punjab Assembly and it was yet to be presented before the National Assembly. He said that the New Murree Development Authority has been preparing a briefing for the National Assembly Standing Committee on Environment.

Earlier, briefing newsmen on the project, NMDA General Manager Tahir Shamshad said that water reservoirs like Simly Dam and Mangla Dam, would have no threat from development of the New Murree Resort. He said that only 3.3 kilometres out of the total 157 kilometres catchment area of Simly Dam would fall in the jurisdiction of the project. Similarly, only 11.67 kilometres out of 33,633 kilometres catchment area of Mangla Dam lies in the jurisdiction of the project.

He said that the NMDA has planned to supply water to the resort from River Jhelum located 10 kilometres from New Murree. The project, including pipelines, filtration plants and pumping stations, would cost Rs2.6 billion.

Tahir Shamshad said that the Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) of the resort project has been completed by the consultants while a full-fledged Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is currently underway.

Talking about some key decisions taken by the Punjab government to protect environment from degradation, he said that the commercial centre of the city will be completely free of vehicular traffic with access only through mono-rail and cable cars. Only stable ridges with sparse population of trees would be used for development.
http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/index.html

Very intresting indeed :D

Good articles, but where's the "Masterplan" ??

I am uploading a vid i took

bad audio though but you can still hear

Good articles, but where's the "Masterplan" ??


it hasnt been released yet

I am uploading a vid i took

bad audio though but you can still hear

Cool, I am waiting dude.

I never fail to deliver!

Muree Project Video (www.pakcafe.com/Media/random/mureeproject.wmv)

mono rail looks awsome.

I seriously hope that the monorail turns out to b liek that~ Looks awesome.

Musharraf happy with Murree Project

LAHORE: President General Pervez Musharraf is satisfied with the Punjab government’s New Murree Project and considers it a good effort to promote tourism and create jobs. Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi briefed the president on the New Murree Project at President’s Secretariat on Thursday. The New Murree Development Authority director general apprised the president about various aspects of the project. Elahi said that New Murree would be a tourist resort and top priority was being given to environmental protection. He said that the provision of Sui gas would reduce deforestation. Elahi said that the project would create many jobs as well. He said Rs 2 billion would be spent to provide potable water to Murree and New Murree residents. app

Love the mono rail, I hope it safe! lol.

Great project!!! Can't wait!!!

Dual Road to Link New Murree with Islamabad: CM
The News,

March 22: PUNJAB Chief minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi Monday reviewed a master plan of the New Murree Project and announced completion of a dual carriageway linking the new facility and Islamabad within this year.

New Murree Development Authority Director General Azmat Ranjha briefed the CM on the project. The CM announced the completion of the New Murree project would provide a new tourist resort to the local and foreign visitors.

He said the tourist attraction of the International Standard would be four times larger than Murree.

The Chief Minister said water would be provided to New Murree from River Jehlum within 18 months at the cost of Rs 2 billion. Both Murree and New Murree would benefit from the water scheme, he added.

He said promotion of tourism leaves a positive impact on the national economy and in view of this fact, the government had evolved New Murree Project where tourist facilities would meet the International Standards.

He said two five star and one six star hotel, a shopping mall, trade center, theme park, cultural complex, botanical garden, parks, camping ground, hiking tracks besides all basic amenities would be made available at the new facility.

In addition to modern parking facilities, monorail would also be introduced in New Murree for linking different sections of the town, he said.

The chief minister ordered the authorities concerned that maximum forestation should be done for enhancing the beauty of the area and announced laying foundation stone of the project in June.

any updated news on this?????

^^ You've been sleeping :lol:

As far as I remember the ex-CJ had ordered that this project be cancelled.

yep chungi mangi is gone so lets see if the new cj says anything about this, but even if it is to continue, it will only happen if pervaiz elahi is re elected and this time he can only be re elected as pm.

as far as the enviroment is concerned i think it will be ok, if they replant the trees they plan to chop, but it shouldnt be alot cos i heard they were planning some jungle type resort by leaving the trees and making villas and roads inside the forest. trees will probably only need to be choped for the roads

By what have the done in the original old Murree? Many of you might have visited Murree many times and might have seen that how bad the planning and management is there.

Murree has become crap, to be honesst.

Yes, lmao Murree has become crap but ther surrounding areas are even better now thanks to the EXCELLENT roads. Don't go to Murree go to Nathia Gali or Ayubia and you can still get that quiet peaceful experience.

well actully new murree is an excellent place itself, it has nice gardens and the worlds second longest chairlift, which is quite enjoyable and it is very clean unfortunatly roads there are in bad condition, maybe they have changed now and theres no decent hotel there, but its only a 10 minute drive from murree

there is also alot of air pollution around islamabad area and you can see lots of black clowds around there.

this means ex cm has put the project in the trash or shelfed it so if he comes he have something to work on
we should build new muree like genting highland malaysia they have the same place like muree but have a theme park covered with hotels around it

new murree project was shelved because of the heavy deforestation it would require.

all projects require something to be done it may take new roads or bridges to construct or forest to shrink or hill to cut
if it would not be, how come islamabad come into existance ?

I still insist that Murree is being ignored. Once It was the most visited place of Pakistan but now its only a commercial area. However united Pakistan is right. The adjointing areas like Nathia gali, Patriyata and Ayobia are still good.

^^^^he /she is back :lol::lol:

the return of tarzan:gunz:

Also proves that Umais is still a rookie at cutting throats.

the return of tarzan:gunz:

I will be leaving skyscrapercity for a few days...

I will be leaving skyscrapercity for a few days...

:rofl:






















:pet:

I will be leaving skyscrapercity for a few days...

:hilarious

the return of tarzan:gunz:

Is that an echo??!

new murree project was shelved because of the heavy deforestation it would require.

I'm glad. We don't need to chop down the little forest cover we do have in Pakistan. We should concentrate on improving the Murree we already have instead of building a new one :ohno:

thats right... the old one can be improved and made mush better instead of building a new one by cutting thousands of trees...!!

I'm glad. We don't need to chop down the little forest cover we do have in Pakistan. We should concentrate on improving the Murree we already have instead of building a new one :ohno:

You go girl! :cheer:


(assuming ofcourse that you are a girl, and if not then you should definately do something about the avatar)

You go girl! :cheer:


(assuming ofcourse that you are a girl, and if not then you should definately do something about the avatar)

I'm a dude :lol:

My avatar is He-Man. It's awesome :banana:

I'm a dude :lol:

My avatar is He-Man. It's awesome :banana:

OH!


My bad. :tongue3:


I just saw all that pink and assumed your a girl.

all projects require something to be done it may take new roads or bridges to construct or forest to shrink or hill to cut
if it would not be, how come islamabad come into existance ?

Juss wanted you and everyone else know, Islamabad has a very different natural landscaping conditions than the New Murree. If you read the history of the capital or the feasibility report of the master planing commision designing the capital, the city did not have a massive forestation on the areas where there would be extensive construction in the future. This included sector E,F,G and other areas excluding the Margalla hills and the Shakar Paryan area which are both a national level declared parks. During the excution of the masterplan, there was no deforetation that took place. Also due to lack of greeny over the major area, malbury and other trees were imported to give the city a green eco-environment. However this process of plantation has lead to aesthematic and other respiratory problems in the capital. The New Murree masterplan has entirey been planned on the moutainous areas which have dense coniferous plantation. We do not have the concept of "green architecture" neither of "sustainable architecture". Constructing a whole city over the area with so much deforestation would lead to so many enviromental problems on short term and long term basis. Construction of a road or brigde is very different in scale to construction of a city. The city will grow, expand and not be able to sustain the existing environment.

The new murree project would be similar to deforestation of Margalla hills and constructing ten thousands multi level dwellings on a green space!