ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Tuesday stressed the need for a comprehensive security plan for Islamabad following the launch of the metro bus service.

Presiding over a high-level meeting, the minister directed the capital administration, the Capital Development Authority (CDA), Nadra and Islamabad police to come up with suggestions that address the current security challenges.

Elaborating on the new challenges, the minister said after the launch of the `Pakistan Metro Bus Service`, all departments concerned need to gear up their efforts towards ensuring the safety of hundreds of thousands of commuters availing the facility between the twin cities.

The participants of the meeting also discussed the security arrangements for the upcoming local bodies elections in the federal capital, scheduledto be held on July 25 this year.

`A three-pronged security strategy encompassing arrangements before, during and after the elections should be devised and implemented so as to ensure that the elections are heldin a free and peaceful manner,` Chaudhry Nisar said.

AIG Islamabad briefed the meeting about security audit of important buildings in the capital, and it was decided that the police would prepare security plan for commercial building within five days.

However, at the same time he directed the agencies concerned to clear the illegal settlements in the federal capital as per the Islamabad High Court`s directives.

The meeting was called after high court directed that the government ensure that the slum areas and katchi abadis did not pose any security challenge.

`The residents of katchi abadis were not only illegal occupants of valuable private and public land, but someof them are a serious security hazard for the capital,` the minister said.

It was decided that the process of clearing illegally occupied land would be undertaken in a systematic and phased manner.

The CDA was asked to strengthen its enforcement and monitoring wing tokeepacheck onillegaloccupations or re-settlement in the federal capital.

The minister reiterated that there was zero political interference in the operational matters of the Islamabad police.

`Now it is the duty of the police to bring qualitative change in their service delivery,` he said.

`The police should focus on facilitating public and must ensure that every citizen is accorded equal treatment as per law,` he added.

Reviewing the law and order situation, the minister said the police should focus on a robust mechanism of preemptive measures and effective response system to meet any situation.