Violating by-laws: CDA plans action against private housing societies

Officials say housing societies continue to flout regulations despite warnings

ISLAMABAD: With private housing societies in the capital continuing to flaunt regulations and by-laws, the civic authority has planned to take stern action against these housing societies for illegal and unapproved construction.

Last week, the Building Control Directorate-II of the Capital Development Authority (CDA), while complying with court orders, had warned private housing societies in the capital to explain their legal position within seven days for self-approving building plans and issuing occupancy permits for their respective societies by circumventing the issuing authority, the CDA.

The authority said that in the event the housing societies failed to provide a cogent reason for this, ex-parte proceedings would be initiated against them.

CDA sources told The Express Tribune that despite repeated directions by the authority, unauthorised construction continues in housing societies.

Moreover, the housing societies are also approving building plans on their own apart from stamping occupancy permits, all without the knowledge of CDA and by circumventing its authority.

Last week, Islamabad High Court (IHC) Judge Mohsin Akhtar Kayani had heard a writ petition filed by Toquir Ahmed, the managing partner of Des Pardes.

While dismissing the petition, the court had directed the CDA to visit all housing societies in the capital and to verify the credentials of utility plots, services areas, and parking lots there. These areas belong to the CDA under the layout plan (LOP) or under the No Objection Certificate (NOC) granted to the society.

The court directed that if any illegal structure is found built on amenity plots, constructed either by the society or by any third party, the authority can then proceed in accordance with the law without taking any exception.

Ahmed had told the court that the CDA had sealed the Des Pardes Restaurant and Marquee located in the Multi Professional Cooperative Housing Society (MPCHS) in Sector E-11/3 Markaz. CDA explained the closure by stating that the hall had illegally encroached on the parking lot area by establishing a marquee.

Before the court, the CDA contended that area occupied by the petitioner was originally meant to be a car park and that the petitioner had set up a restaurant thereby covering the area with a temporary structure, which was not permissible under the law.

The CDA said that they had leased out a plot measuring 5,100 square feet to Des Pardes for five years in 2016.

The counsel for the petitioner pointed out that the Directorate of Municipal Administration of CDA had itself issued a licence to Des Pardes to set up the restaurant.

He went on to claim that that the CDA could not proceed against the restaurant when they had themselves issued a licence to the petitioner for running it on the leased land.

The court, however, had observed that while a licence had been issued in favour of the petitioner for running a restaurant, the licence did not mean that the petitioner had the authority to establish the restaurant on an area meant for a car park.

The court had subsequently directed the CDA building control director and private housing societies director to issue a warning notice to all private housing societies in the city and their executive bodies to comply with CDA’s by-laws in the letter and spirit.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 18^th, 2018.