Deferred thrice: Commercial plots auction likely this month

CDA expects to generate Rs35.73b from sale of residential and commercial plots.


Our Correspondent December 07, 2014

ISLAMABAD:


After many hitches and delays owing to political hullabaloo in the capital, the civic agency is likely to auction commercial plots in this month.


The Capital Development Authority (CDA) had been deferring auction of commercial plots since August 14 due to protests and sit-ins in the capital by Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf and Pakistan Awami Tehreek fearing that the auctions may not attract potential investors under current circumstances.

“The estate management wing has sent a proposal to the CDA board to open auctioning of commercial land in the current month,” said Estate Management-II Director Mohammad Ali.



“Persistent sit-ins have badly affected the real estate market,” said Arjumand Abbasi, a real estate agent. He said that land prices have witnessed slump in the recent past and there seems to be no improvement in sight in the situation.

An official of the estate management wing said that the authority has identified around 21 commercial plots for auction. The plots are located at Orchard Scheme Murree Road, IJ Principal Road, Blue Area, northern strip of Sector E-11, and sectors I-8, D-12, F-11 and G-11.

The CDA board, which is scheduled to meet soon, will weigh the option if auctioning of commercial plots will be feasible under the current circumstances, which have significantly brought property prices down.

For the year 2014-15, the authority has announced to generate Rs35.73 billion from the sale of residential and commercial lands.

The CDA was supposed to auction 50 residential and 18 commercial plots on August 23 and 24, but it was deferred to September 8 and 9 due to sit-ins and protests.

The civic agency failed to hold auction on the scheduled date and it was deferred to October 13, 14 and 15, again.

Beautification drive begins

The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has announced to carry out beautification work on roadways, major thoroughfares and entry points of the city. Under the drive, entry points at Golra and Rawat toll plazas and major avenues of the city will be decorated with seasonal flowers and unique landscapes, said a press release issued on Sunday. The CDA member environment said major arteries including the Kashmir Highway and the Islamabad Expressway between Zero Point and I-8-signal will be given special attention. The CDA chairman, meanwhile, has directed the civic agency officials to carry out landscape work at the old dumping site at Sector H-10. In addition to flowers, fruit saplings will also be planted at selected sites. Flower beds are already being prepared at slopes while grass will be planted on slopes along the Kashmir Highway. The CDA will also plant 100 kachnar trees at the sites from where they were cut during recent development work.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 8th, 2014.

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