‘Don’t invest in illegal housing schemes’

The Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) has advised citizens not to invest in illegal and unauthorised housing schemes.

RDA Director-General (DG) Tahir Zafar Abbasi said that several illegal and unauthorised housing schemes were operating without getting the no-objection certificates (NOCs) from the civic agency.

According to a spokesperson for the RDA, the DG had also directed the authorities concerned to take strict action against illegal housing schemes. He also instructed the authorities to take all possible steps to provide relief to the aggrieved citizens.

According to the RDA's list, over 300 fake and illegal housing societies exist in the Rawalpindi district.

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“Citizens should check the status of housing societies from the Metropolitan Planning and Traffic Engineering (MPTE) Directorate, or they should visit the RDA website to know the status of the housing projects before any investment,” he said.

The RDA has also requested Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority to issue direction to private TV channels to stop airing advertisements of illegal housing societies.

The DG emphasised that the citizens should be informed about building and zoning regulations 2020 and status of all the illegal housing schemes. He directed the RDA employees to work hard and make all-out efforts to address the complaints of the residents.

He ordered the Metropolitan Planning and Traffic Engineering (MP&TE) department to take strict action against illegal and unauthorized constructions and commercial activities without any discrimination.

The spokesman said that the RDA had also requested Islamabad Electric Supply Company, the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Ltd and the Pakistan Telecommunication Limited to not proved services to illegal housing schemes.

He said a plan for a grand operation against illegal and fake housing societies had been devised. FIRs would also be lodged against the owners of fake and illegal housing societies in respective police stations. The Punjab government had banned the issuance of NOCs to all new housing societies to protect and preserve agricultural lands.

The authority had also written letters to the State Bank of Pakistan, the National Accountability Bureau, the Federal Investigation Agency Cybercrime Islamabad, Overseas Pakistanis Foundation Islamabad, the SNGPL Islamabad, the District Collector Rawalpindi, the District Council Rawalpindi and the commissioner Islamabad requesting them to freeze bank accounts and block social media accounts of owners and administrations of the illegal housing societies.

The spokesman said the illegal and unauthorized housing societies have been mushrooming in the district while their owners were also involved in promoting their illegal business through advertisements on TV channels and social media. The administration of illegal housing projects had also been warned against marketing their unapproved and illegal housing schemes and should contact RDA for getting NOC for the schemes as per law, otherwise, strict legal action would be taken against them.

According to the RDA officials, 68 fake housing societies exist in different parts of the Chakri while 275 illegal housing societies exist in Kotli Sattian, Taxila, Jando, Fateh Jhang Road, Jalala, Niko, Wani, Paswal, Bajjar, Katia, Jhal Yari, New Murree, Patriata, Jhika Gali, Baroha, Manga, Angori, Nimbal, Khatar, Ghora Gali, Masyari Expressway, Chattar, Charlot, Salgaran, Salkhitar, Dahagal, Kak, Chaklala, Kalial, Pind Nasrullah, Chak Bailey, Garja, Adiala, Jodia and other areas.

The RDA officials said that NOCs will not be issued to housing societies till the ban is lifted.

The officials said that the allottees of fake housing societies should immediately contact RDA to prepare a comprehensive case against the owners.

With additional input APP

Published in The Express Tribune, March 14^th, 2022.