LDA misses commercialisation survey deadline

LAHORE: The Lahore Development Authority (LDA) has extended the deadline for completion of its survey of the city from July 12 to July 25.

The decision was taken after the 44-member team, comprising University of Engineering and Technology (UET) students, managed to cover only 90 per cent of the areas by the stipulated time.

A senior LDA official told The Express Tribune that the survey of all 200 private housing schemes, approved by the LDA, and 32 out of the 52 schemes developed by the LDA was complete.

The official said that three UET students and an LDA assistant director will review the findings and finalise the LDA’s permanent commercialisation policy by July 31.

He said that satellite imagery of the commercial areas had already been obtained and marked. He added that a digital database would be compiled to make the policy formation process more efficient.

The LDA official said employing the UET students would allow a saving of about Rs100 million which would have been spent had the LDA hired the services of professionals. He added that the students were being paid Rs15,000 per month. He said that the last such survey was conducted by senior officers of the LDA’s town planning wing and commercialisation branch. “They are not available this year so we had to outsource the task,” he added.

He said that after the announcement of permanent commercialisation policy, LDA would seek an amendment in its Lahore Master Plan 2021 to make it compatible with the new changes.

Before 2001, the LDA used to commercialise property on permanent basis by charging 20 per cent of the value of land (scheduled rate).

The authority also allowed one-year commercialisation by charging three per cent of the permanent commercialisation fee (20 per cent of the scheduled rate). For every subsequent year, it charged 10 per cent of the permanent commercialisation fee. The temporary commercialisation option was available to buildings but not to open plots.

This arrangement continued till October 2009 when the LDA announced its interim commercialisation policy under which the temporary commercialisation rate was increased from three per cent to six per cent of the permanent commercialisation fee. The rate would rise to nine per cent for the next year (2010) and to 12 per cent for 2011.

Under the temporary commercialisation policy, the LDA planned to establish a Central Business District (CBD) in the city comprising Jail Road, Main Boulevard of Gulberg, MM Alam Road, a segment of Hali Road and Shahrahe Noor Jehan, Gulberg.

The LDA also allowed commercialisation activity along the entire length of 17 roads that fell under its jurisdiction under the newly introduced Land Use (classification, re-classification and redevelopment) Rules of 2009.

These roads include Jail Road (Ghaus Al Azam Road), Main Boulevard of Gulberg, MM Alam Road, Stadium Road (Noor Jahan Road), Quaid-i-Azam Road, Tariq Road, MM Alam Link Road, a road behind the Liberty Market, Firdous Market Road (Ali Zeb Road), Gulberg Main Market link roads on Shezan side and Auriga side,  the Chen One Road (a segment of Ghalib Road), a portion of Civic Centre Road, Garden Town, Model Town Link Road, Al-Madina Road in Township, Bagrian Road and Mian Boulevard of Samanabad.

Commercial activity was also allowed on some portions of 12 other roads including Maulana Shaukat Ali Road, Main Boulevard of Shadman, Main Boulevard of Garden Town, College Road in Gulberg, Park Road, Ali Zeb Avenue, Abul Hasan Isfahani Road in Faisal Town, Zafar Ali Road, Gulberg 5, MM Alam Link Road, Shadman, a part of the Race Course Road, Link Road, Main Boulevard Garden Town, Wahdat Road, Ferozpur Road, Canal Road to Railway Crossing.

The LDA imposed complete ban on commercialisation on 20 roads that fell in residential areas. Most of these roads fall under Johar Town and Sabzazar Housing Schemes. Other roads on which commercialisation has been banned include Wahdat Road from Multan Road to Naqsha Stop and Khayaban-i-Jinnah from Shaukat Khanam Hospital to Raiwind Road.

The LDA had announced that the illegally set up commercial buildings on the 20 roads would be demolished.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 17^th, 2010.