RDA to ‘tighten the noose’ around illegal housing units

Makes it mandatory for future societies to have green area, industrial zone and other basic facilities

RAWALPINDI:

After the Punjab government has taken away the administrative control of six tehsils from the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) and put them under the local government, the civic agency has announced not to allow illegal housing schemes in its jurisdictions involving 64 settlements.

Recently, the provincial government put Kahuta, Kalar Syedan, Kotli Satian, Murree, Taxila and Gujjar Khan tehsils under the administrative control of the Rawalpindi District Council, restricting the RDA jurisdiction to 64 settlements.

The RDA has decided not to allow future illegal housing schemes to publicise their projects and sell plots. The new housing schemes will only be allowed to operate after they comply with the RDA’s master plan. Under the RDA master plan, new housing schemes will mandatorily have a green area, industrial zone and all other basic facilities. A 16-storey parking plaza will have a state-of-the-art restaurant on the top floor.

RDA Chairman Tariq Mahmood Murtaza said that there were a total of 138 housing schemes in the RDA jurisdiction and of them, 80 were legal and 58 housing societies were being vetted.

Read More: ‘RDA has no power to deal with illegal schemes’

He said that 260 illegal housing schemes were located in those six tehsils which have now been wrested away from the RDA. He said that the authorities concerned did nothing to stop these illegal housing schemes in those tehsils before they were brought under the RDA jurisdiction in 2018. Now the record of these six tehsils was being sent back to the departments concerned.

Murtaza said that Rawalpindi Ring Road and Leh Expressway projects have been sent to the ECNEC for final approval. “Demarcation has been completed for the route of the Leh Expressway. Funds for land acquisition will be released soon and the depth of Leh Nullah has been increased from 18 metres to 11 metres while the width has been reduced from 60 feet to 35 feet which will reduce the cost of the project,” he said.

He said that tenders for the Leh Expressway project will be issued in February 2022 while the foundation stone of the Ring Road will be laid after approval from the ECNEC.

The RDA chief said that a plan has been prepared to build a state-of-the-art parking plaza in the parking lot of the RDA office with a standard restaurant at the top from where the entire Rawalpindi city can also be seen. He said that the parking plaza will be 16-storey.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, December 22^nd, 2021.