CDA – a spectator to unauthorised construction in capital

Documents show civic authority only recently stepped up efforts to control illegal activities

ISLAMABAD: The top civic authority in the capital continued to play the role of a passive spectator as unauthorised construction cropped up unchecked in the city.

Only this year, after a few high-profile incidents were reported and the matter was taken up in courts, did the Capital Development Authority (CDA) take action.



An official document of the civic authority, available with The Express Tribune, spelt out all the different factors which contributed to the unplanned and unauthorised construction within the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT).

These factors included jurisdictional overlap between the CDA and the ICT, violation of the ICT Master Plan and Islamabad Zoning Regulations 1995, sale and purchase of land on registered documents through the office of the sub-registrar in ICT’s revenue department of, and approval of building plans by the Union Councils(UCs) when they were authorised to do so.

Moreover, the document said that certain areas were not acquired by CDA – and hence rules of the body were not enforced there allowing unregulated construction.

Further, it says that schemes under section 12 and 13 of CDA Ordinance 1960 were not prepared for some of these un-acquired areas. This land was subsequently acquired by other authorities which established housing schemes by securing approval from the circle registrar.

It adds that the limited capacity of the building control directorate of CDA, the lack of an independent building control authority, registration of sale deeds by the sub-registrar, supply of essential services by such as electricity and gas in these areas without obtaining a no-objection certificate (NOC) from CDA, contributed to the growth of unauthorised constructions in Islamabad.

The documents further reveal that the CDA only lurched into action earlier this year and attempted to enforce its regulations.

It noted that the civic body had issued notices to unauthorised buildings, demanded that the ICT authority and the Deputy Commissioner impose Section 144 on illegal constructions and restrict registration property deeds within in ICT limits. Moreover, it requested Sui Northern Gas Company Limited (SNGPL) and the Islamabad Electricity Supply Company (IESCO) to impose a ban on providing utilities to residential and commercial buildings within ICT which do not possess an NOC issued by CDA.



Further, CDA issued notices to property owners who were occupying buildings without acquiring the requisite completion certificates from the authority.

“Most of these measures were taken in 2017,” a CDA official told The Express Tribune on the condition of anonymity. He added that in the past the CDA practically ignored all such illegal activities or gave a clean chit to builders.

In some cases, the official noted, the “CDA Board came forward to fulfil the necessary legal requirements in violation of its own building by-laws and the Islamabad Master Plan.”  In this regard, he pointed to the under-construction building of the One Constriction Avenue and Centaurus Mall as a prime example of the CDA’s negligence.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 2^nd, 2017.