Ministry decides to crack down on illegal structures

Estate Office seeks help from CDA

ISLAMABAD:

The federal housing ministry has decided to take action against encroachments and illegally constructed structures in government residences in Islamabad.

The housing ministry has also decided to vacate government quarters from retired and relatives of late employees, who continue to occupy residences.

The ministry has also sought help from the Capital Development Authority, sources said. According to the sources, federal government residences fall under the administrative control of the Estate Office of the Federal Ministry of Housing and Construction.

The ministry has decided to take action against the construction of extra rooms by the employees and their kith and kins, who live in government allotted houses.

Sources in the housing ministry said that at present over 17,000 government houses in Islamabad were under the management of the Estate Office and additional rooms had illegally been constructed by the allottees in over 2,400 residences.

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The sources said that recently, a high-level meeting has decided to take action against such encroachments on government residences across the country including in the federal capital.

“The purpose of the operation is to clear the government residences of encroachments,” sources in the ministry of housing told The Express Tribune.

According to the sources, over 25,000 government employees were currently on the general waiting list to get accommodation but they could not be provided with the same as retired employees, their relatives and relatives of even late government employees continue to live in government quarters.

According to the sources, they have constructed either an extra room or an entire floor on a government house. It has been decided to remove these encroachments from government residences, and soon a major operation will be launched against these illegal structures, the sources said.

The Estate Office will also take action against the illegal use of land for commercial purposes and other types of encroachments.

The sources said that after clearing the illegal use of government-owned land for commercial purposes, the Estate Office will deal with the kin of retired or deceased government employees who were occupying government-owned houses.