RCB issues notices to owners over illegal use of buildings

Development comes after NAB takes notice of alternate use of structures.

RAWALPINDI:

The Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) president has taken notice of the illegal and alternative use of buildings and plazas in its jurisdiction.

The RCB chief took notice of the matter after a citizen approached the National Accountability Bureau with a complaint about the illegal operation of 12 illegal wedding halls and plazas.

Sources said that notices were issued to the building owners who had failed to submit building plans to the RCB office to regulate them. The notices stated that the owners could be prosecuted under the Cantonment Act if they failed to submit the building plans.

According to the sources, the RCB has also decided to take over a marriage hall and its shops owned by a government agency on Range Road.

Sources privy to the matter told The Express Tribune that wedding parties had been continuously taking place in these 12 illegal marriage halls for years. The owners of these marriage halls did not seek formal approval from the RCB and all these illegal activities had been taking place with the alleged connivance of the RCB building department officials.

According to the sources, the NAB also questioned the CBR officials over the illegal use of buildings.

Sources further said that these buildings could be sealed and demolished if owners failed to regularise them.

The RCB would earn millions in revenue after the regularisation of 12 illegal marriage halls and eight plazas. The takeover of the wedding hall and shops on Range Road will also be a major source of revenue for the RCB.

Read: "RCB asked to remove encroachments"

Published in The Express Tribune, January 27^th, 2022.