I. PLANS AND PLANNING PROCESS
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D. National development planning
Environmental concerns received minimal mention in the first, second and third Five-Year Plans. The fourth Five-Year Plan was indirectly oriented towards the preservation and protection of the environment, but was not implemented as a result of political change. The fifth Five-Year Plan, in its chapter on "Physical planning and housing" mentioned that housing and a healthy living
environment were basic human necessities. Improvements in the environment also contribute to the economic growth as well as serious environmental problems related to cities were mentioned. The sixth Five-Year Plan envisaged environmental protection, e.g., the reclamation of land through control of salinity and waterlogging, and the improvement of slums and squatter settlements received due priority.
The seventh Five-Year Plan and the 15-Year Perspective Plan (1988-2003) came together. The two Plans gave full recognition to the interrelationship between population, resources, environment and development. The Environmental Protection Ordinance (EPO) (1983), which was promulgated on 31 December 1983, made it compulsory to carry out EIA/IEE under its Section Eight. The Environmental Protection Council and the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency were made responsible for the implementation of EPO. An environment profile of Pakistan was prepared in 1987 and subsequently the National Conservation Strategy (NCS) emerged as a policy document on environment.
For the first time, in the eighth (current) Five-Year Plan a full chapter on the environment was included. The government started implementing the NCS by incorporating its recommendations in the Plan into each development sector, in addition to a separate section on the environment. An NCS Unit has been set up in the Ministry of Environment, Urban Affairs, Forestry, Wildlife, Fisheries, Local Government and Rural Development. An Environmental Section was also set up in the Planning Commission with similar cells in the Provincial Planning Departments, while Provincial Environmental Protection Agencies were established.
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