City zoning: Commercialisation fees for Chamra Mandi suspended

DCO inspects work on Dinga Singh and Shah Din Buildings.

LAHORE:

The district coordination officer has suspended the payment of commercialisation fees at Chamra Mandi (Hides Market), after shopkeepers protested at city government notices demanding such payments.

DCO Noorul Amin Mengal visited the market to hear the traders’ grievances. They said that the market had been around since 1913 and so the notices demanding payment from them for the conversion of residential to commercial property were absurd.

The DCO, who was accompanied by Mian Muhammad Ali, an advisor to the chief minister, said that the matter had been brought before the local government secretary, so the notices would be suspended until the secretary makes a decision on the subject.

City government officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that by placing the matter in the secretary’s court, it had effectively been put in cold storage. They said that the decision was politically motivated.



During his visit, Mengal also directed a committee of local administrators to visit Shahpur Kanjran and look for 130 kanals there for the shifting of the market. He also ordered the Shalimar Town municipal officer to improve cleaning arrangements at the market.

The DCO later visited Al Shifa Hospital, built by the Chamra Mandi Association. The hospital administration briefed the DCO about their expenses.

Restoration work

Mengal also paid a visit to the construction work at the Dinga Singh and Shah Din Buildings on The Mall. The facades of the two historic buildings are currently being restored.

The DCO directed the officers concerned to speed up the restoration work. He also ordered them to remove garish signboards from The Mall within seven days. The executive district officer (Works and Services) and Project Coordinator Kanwal Fatima accompanied the DCO.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 16^th, 2013.