Mushroom growth in Rawalpindi: Illegal housing schemes continue to grow

Potohar Town Administration fail to take legal action against unauthorised projects

RAWALPINDI: Business of unapproved and illegal housing schemes continues to grow in Rawalpindi in areas controlled by Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) and Potohar Town Administration as the authorities concerned fail to take legal action against the owners or advertisers, it has been observed. RDA has named 29 housing societies as unregistered and unapproved. Potohar Town Administration had listed 39 housing schemes as unauthorised.

The regulators had identified the illegal housing schemes but had so far failed to initiate legal action against the illegal business. Discussions with different officials in RDA and Potohar Town have revealed that applications from many housing societies for obtaining NOC had long been pending as they had failed to fulfil the requisite criteria. “People continue to purchase residential and commercial plots at exorbitant prices in the unapproved housing societies. The continuous business has been encouraging other businesspersons to initiate more and more housing schemes with no obstruction from municipal authorities”, an official in Potohar Town said.

He said that the administration only informed the customers that certain housing scheme was not registered but took no action against the business. He said that under the relevant laws, a housing scheme needed NOC from relevant municipality after fulfilling requirements such as minimum piece of land, spacious roads and streets, underground water supply and sewerage pipeline, plots for parks, mosques, and graveyards. When the housing schemes could not fulfil the requirements, they avoid the municipal authorities.

The illegal business continues to create problems for the customers who paid their hard earned money to purchase a plot to build a house. “I purchased a residential plot in housing scheme Lalazar-II, also known as Gulshan-e-Iqbal on Dhamial Road in jurisdiction of RDA back in 1992. I selected the plots on the map prepared and provided by the developers. I visited the areas after some eight years and found my plot occupied”, said Ghulam Shabbir.

He said that when he approached a civil court for possession of the plot, he learnt that the housing society was not registered. He said that the law could not help me because he selected the plot according to the map of the developer but in revenue documents he purchased land some 500 feet away from his plot.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 22^nd, 2017.