CDA fails to collect fees on encroached lands

Officials say authority is content with raising money by selling plots

ISLAMABAD: When the civic authority announced earlier this month that it would have to delay its planned auction of plots in the capital (ostensibly because of Pakistan Day activities), it sent a shiver down the spine of some officials.

Annual auctions have thus become one of the main sources of revenue for the cash-strapped Capital Development Authority (CDA) over the past few years.

In its fiscal budget for 2017-18, the CDA estimates to generate Rs23.4 billion from selling commercial and residential plots in the capital.

All the while, however, the authority has been literally allowing a gold mine of revenue to go to waste simply owing to its inability to collect licence and rental fees on its assets

Large swathes of CDA’s lands along the main highways of the capital, including the Kashmir Highway, Murree Road, Islamabad Expressway and the Khayaban-e-Iqbal have been encroached upon and are being used by private as well as public sector organisations as car parks.

“A sizeable amount in terms of rental and parking fees is neither being collected nor deposited into the CDA’s accounts,” a CDA source divulged to The Express Tribune. Claiming that such rent and fees amounted to substantial sums of money, the source suggested that it was finding its way into the pockets of certain individuals.

A CDA document shows that space encroached by public or private sector organisation is not less than 12 kanals.

When The Express Tribune contacted officials at the Directorate of Municipal Authority (DMA), they were told that the licence fee or parking fee for open spaces was Rs143 per square yard per month for private sector organisations. For public sector organisations, this fell dramatically to just Rs15 per square yard per month.

This means that the civic authority can collect Rs86,000 from private sector organisations per month for a Kanal of land every month.

“How much money could the authority generate by collecting the fee on its open spaces,” asked a CDA official, as he lamented that the authority was being deprived of this massive chunk of revenue.

A survey of various areas of the capital showed that large car parks have developed on CDA land located in Sectors G-7, G-8, G-9, G-10 and G-11. Moreover, parking spots have had a mushrooming growth along Murree Road, Khayaban-e-Iqbal, Sixth Avenue, Ataturk Avenue, as well as in the Diplomatic Enclave where people visit various diplomatic missions for visa calls.

“Sizeable car parks have been developed by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC), apart from some other ministries and departments along Sixth Avenue in Sector G-5 and these departments are not paying a single penny to the CDA,” a CDA source said.

To make matters worse, the source claimed that the SBP and PEC had developed parking areas by devouring the adjoining green belt on Ataturk Avenue — something which historical imaging showed did not exist around 14 years ago.

Some organisations and shopping plazas have cut down trees ruthlessly to develop parking spaces in front of their buildings which had eroded the green character of the city.

This trend continued in other parts of the city as well with the Urdu University, PTCL, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ICCI,) KRL Hospital, TF complex, NHA, PMDC, Mari Gas, NADRA, and the ICT Complex developing large parking spaces on green belts on CDA land.

Along the Murree Road, motels have developed large parking areas in on right-of-way of the highway, while on the Islamabad Expressway — the stretch from Faizabad to Rawat, people have developed parking areas, marriage halls, and marquees.

Along with Khayaban-e-Iqbal, in front of Sector E-11 marquees have encroached on land to make car parks on CDA-owned land.

Likewise, the CDA source said that massive parking spaces could be spotted on a portion of the Grand Trunk (GT) Road located within CDA jurisdiction.

A CDA planning wing official, who spoke to The Express Tribune on the condition of anonymity, said that per CDA by-laws, these buildings were supposed to use their basements as car parks. However, these buildings had resorted to using their basements for non-confirming purposes owing to laxity of CDA.

“If the CDA starts charging fee properly on its assets from these organisations, it could generate millions of rupees every month,” a CDA official in the finance wing told The Express Tribune on the condition of anonymity.

The official said that senior CDA officials remain comfortable in generating revenue by selling state land instead of taking measures to strengthen their revenue generation sources.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 12^th, 2018.