1,000-acre housing project planned

MULTAN:

The Multan Development Authority (MDA) is going to launch a 1,000-acre housing project called Allama Iqbal Town under a public-private partnership initiative, a press release said on Tuesday.

A meeting was organised to get feedback from the stakeholders.

District Officer (Human Resource) Kausar Khan and Finance Director Tauqir Elahi presided over the meeting. They told the land owners that land will not be acquired against their wishes. The two officials said that the land owners would have the option to sell their land to MDA under Land Acquisition Act at the current rate or to get plots after development.

The land owners shared their reservations with the MDA officials and were assured that their apprehensions would be addressed by the district administration.

Khan said the scheme would be designed in a way to make it affordable for middle class families.

Anti-encroachment drive

The district administration has launched an operation against encroachments on 13 roads of the city.

A press release issued on Tuesday said that District Coordination Officer Syed Gulzar Hussain Shah had declared 13 roads in A-category and had directed the officials to remove encroachments from there.

Later on Tuesday, Town Municipal Officer Sardar Naseer fined two encroachers Rs6,500 each at Water Works Road. Their carts were impounded by the district officers. The TMO warned encroachers saying that cases would be registered against them if their stalls were not removed in 24 hours.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 15^th, 2013.