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As work begins on a comprehensive land use strategy to tackle all future planning projects, a look at how things stand now
Letha Jose

To understand the maze that the planning process in Oman is, it is enough to have a look at the number of ministries and departments involved. The Ministry of Housing allots land and sets building use plans, Ministry of Regional Municipalities, Environment and Water Resources (MRMEWR) handles building permits and building plans in all regions except Muscat, Sohar and Dhofar. While the Ministry of Transport deals with planning and execution of highways, MRMEWR and Muscat Municipality deal with the smaller roads that pass through their areas. In fact, in the case of Muscat Municipality, not just the small roads, even the southern expressway is its responsibility.

Then there is the Supreme Committee for Town Planning (SCTP), a technical body, which is in charge of formulating the spatial strategy across the length and breadth of the sultanate and also in charge of laying out the guidelines that can be referred to by the ministries and departments concerned. There are also guidelines by MRMEWR on best practices to follow while constructing in particular areas and building regulations by Muscat Municipality.

Muscat Municipality has a fairly comprehensive set of building regulations in place (see box on pg29). However, how much of these are put in practice on the ground is open to debate. So it seems that the laws are in place, the awareness exists but there are a whole set of other factors that have cumulatively resulted in the kind of construction that we see. Soil testing is not the only Building Regulation Law that is being flouted. The number of multi-storey buildings that ignore Article 99 which stipulates that any building with four floors minimum (ground floor + three floors) has to have a refuse collection chamber built at the ground floor level as part of the main building is phenomenal. Another clear case of flouting the rules relates to Article 96 that details the parking requirements for different types of buildings.

Says Mohammed Al Harthy, honorary member of Geological Society of Oman, "There is a lot of difference between having rules and regulations in place and making sure that these are being implemented. Non-implementation can be due to many factors, including lack of awareness or lack of resources. To ensure implementation of rules, we need to make people aware of them and also take action against those who violate them."

SCTP and MRMEWR are in the process of formulating a revised set of guidelines to control development in flood risk areas, classified as low, medium and high-risk flood zones. Says Dr Abdulaziz Al-Mashikhi, director, Ground and Surface Water Assessment Department, MRMEWR, "We are in the process of reviewing the flood control data, which was last updated in 1992. Since then there have been a lot of changes in the climate and the rainfall pattern." Also, development projects along the mountains and the wadis have changed the character of certain areas. In many places development by the side of wadis have reduced their width and thus the water flow is confined to a narro-wer area resulting in higher velocity. "All these are factors being considered as the guidelines are being revised. There is an element of overlap between the functioning of various agencies now. There is a move to streamline the whole process, to have a single agency handle all the town planning issues."

As per the existing guidelines laid out by SCTP, the developer or property owner must seek comments and prior approval from MRMEWR before a project in a flood risk zone is allowed to proceed for final determination by the planning authority. The guidelines also stipulate that if a proposal for any major development in a medium or high risk flood zone will cause a significant reduction in channel flow capacity, the developer or property owner is required to demonstrate to the planning authority and MRMEWR that the proposal will not significantly increase flood levels. If the development will cause a significant increase in flood levels, the developer or owner must provide adequate and acceptable compensating works to offset the increase. For projects in a high-risk flood zone, it is mandatory to incorporate foolproof evacuation measures.

Says Dr Al-Mashikhi, "Within our limited resources we provide advice to anyone who contacts us. We don't have the authority to say that all plans and permissions must be routed through us." For cities and towns outside Muscat, Sohar and Dhofar, the building files move through MRMEWR, but in the case of these areas, unless the municipality or the consultants ask for MRMEWR's technical reports, there is no way they can keep track of the developments. "Our role is not to act as a barrier to development but to provide a technical study based on which the authorities concerned can facilitate it in a sustainable fashion." Many a time the enterprises directly approach the Muscat Municipality. In such cases MRMEWR comes into the picture only if the municipality consults them.

Then there is the problem of mindset. There is always resistance to anything that pushes up the cost without immediate visible benefits. The thermal insulation standards were scaled down by SCTP following complaints about rising costs. While the original standards remain for the government buildings, SCTP is now banking on awareness campaigns that focus on the long-term benefits of thermal insulation to lure people into voluntarily adopting the necessary measures. The campaigns stress on the savings on utility bills in the long run despite initial higher overheads and sources in SCTP say they have been moderately successful in overcoming mindsets.

Risk factors to consider
Environmentalists say the original clusters were always well planned, given that man understood the supremacy of nature as a force and built around it in a sustainable fashion. But Salim Mohd al Afani, Director General, Physical Planning, SCTP, has a counterpoint. "If you confine yourself to such parameters, there won't be much scope for development. By that count you cannot have any development in Salalah. Thanks to modern technology, we are now in a position to minimise and control the damages that can be wreaked by nature. We just have to make sure is that we plan our cities after sufficient research."

But things have changed, and not just in terms of technological advancements. It is no longer wise to plan cities in Oman on the assumption that it is a desert country where rain doesn't figure as a factor to reckon with. Advancements in technology have put at the disposal of city planners data that would have taken years to collate a couple of decades ago. But that has also brought about the necessity to review to a great extent the existing plans. The flood zone maps in Muscat were last updated almost two decades ago.

While flooding caused by rains is the biggest threat planners have to tackle, Oman is not immune to another natural disaster – earthquake. While most are familiar with a fault line called Oman Line in the north near Musandam, there is another lesser known one closer to the capital. A study published by the Geological Society of London in 1990 (see box on pg31) identified a second fault line near Qalhat, which may not be as inactive as it was perceived to be.

However, Al Harthy says there is no cause for alarm. "When we say there are a number of faults in Oman, it does not mean that the earth along the fault line is unstable. However, this is a factor that is always best considered while planning cities in Oman. Oman is not considered as earthquake prone as Iran, Yemen or Egypt. But if you ask whether there is a chance, the answer is yes, however small that may be."

He says proper planning is all that is required to tackle this threat. "California and Tokyo are highly earthquake-prone cities, but despite frequent tremors, several times recording high values on the Richter Scale, there is no damage as these have been planned to withstand such calamities. This shows how we can take adequate safeguards to build in areas that are otherwise deemed dangerous."

Technology to the rescue
Tahir Obaid al Salami, who heads the GIS section of MRMEWR, is convinced that GIS will play a greater role in town planning as years go by. "We had monitoring systems in place and have the data on the velocity and quantity of water that flowed in many of the wadis, including Wadi Adai, during Cyclone Gonu and the previous rains. That data is available within ministries and departments concerned for further research and we are able to identify the risk zones through modelling or assimilation of the recent events. GIS makes data available to the decision makers. It is an offering, one takes it or leaves it as one deems fit," says al Salami.

He explained, using GIS data that shows the course of wadis and its channels, how two dams are being planned in Salalah, which, once built, will greatly reduce the risk of floods in the city and surrounding areas. "Using GIS, we have suggested the best places for the dams in Salalah based on all the data available to us. These maps show the direction of the wadis and their tributaries. Our data is useful in determining the topography, soil type and how much water comes in through the wadis. Based on all these data the ideal height of the dams can be arrived at."

In the aftermath of Cyclone Gonu, GIS assumes greater significance. Many departments and ministries had already been using GIS for their day-to-day operations. Says Qasim Mohammed Nabhani, general manager, GIS, SCTP, "The entire system went haywire following Cyclone Gonu, indicating that much more planning is required to face the havoc caused by such natural disasters. A multi-step approach is required." Initially, the areas of inundation are to be identified and classified into zones based on the amount of threat, identifying suitable sites with less threat and planned relocation as well as installation of warning systems, sign boards and emergency stations in the risk zones. There is also a need to prevent any form of construction in the wadi path that may obstruct its flow during floods. "Spreading awareness among the public on how to be prepared and react at the critical times is also essential," says Nabhani.

Case studies like coastal erosions, flattening of huge mountains for developmental activities, their impact studies on the environment, identifying and promoting unique geological sites, exploration studies – all of these require GIS to provide first-hand information as maps and associated database to perform spatial analysis. GIS has become an inseparable tool, whether it is conversion of agricultural lands for residential or commercial development, identification of spots for tourism development or planning and relocation of infrastructure corridor projects like Batinah coastal road, Quriyat-Sur road, etc. "The Duqm master plan project is an example where the urban planning and GIS domains are utilised to build a modern, self-sustainable city, based on the future population and industrial growth in the area to attract both tourists and investors equally," adds Nabhani.

Since 1992 when Oman set up its first GIS unit, the scope for this tool has increased manifold. Now, each ministry has a GIS division and its scope as an urban-planning tool has been acknowledged. Though officials say the data collated by various GIS sections are shared if required, to anyone looking at the process objectively from outside this appears a cumbersome practice and the possibility of vital personal inputs getting lost in transit cannot be ruled out. However, it is understood that there is a plan to adopt the Qatar model, where an integrated GIS unit handles all the data.

Review and reconstruction
While public attention was drawn to the planning activities in the aftermath of Cyclone Gonu, authorities say review and planning is an ongoing process. Says one source, "There is a tendency now to attribute any development project or review to Cyclone Gonu. But there is always a systematic review process that goes on behind the scenes which takes care of alterations here and there. It's just that after the cyclone there is this constant speculation and spotlight is trained on such activities."

In January this year, Ministry of Housing, Electricity and Water stopped issuing licences to convert villas to multi-storeyed apartments. Based on a revised land use plan the ministry even issued a notice stating that permits would stand cancelled if construction work doesn't start by October end on premises that have already secured the licence. While the officials did not come on record about the revision of town plans, it is understood that behind the closed door consultations are going on and that it is just a matter of time before we see well demarcated residential and commercial areas.

Contrary to perception, the proposal to build three dams in Wadi Adai area has not been a post-Gonu afterthought. Groundwork on the proposal had been going on even before the cyclone. Planning authorities had already identified the threat to Wadi Adai as well as the Qurm commercial area where the run off reaches on its way to the sea. "It is easy to point fingers. What many do not understand is the limitations within which we work. For effective solutions we need reliable data, which is a premium in Oman as there are hardly any records on natural disasters before the 1980s," says one source.

"We should now ask ourselves if we had developed the affected areas in a different way, would we have been in a position to reduce or avoid the damages? What has happened has happened. Now we should look at reactivating all the committees and include members from more varied background as we think of the future," says Al Harthy.