Land use: WCLA building records, official summoned

A plaza being built in Kashmiri Gate could harm a 200-year-old imambargah


Our Correspondent January 17, 2015
The Lahore High Court. PHOTO: LHC.GOV.PK

LAHORE: Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah of the Lahore High Court summoned on Friday records of construction and commercial activities in the Walled City.

The judge directed an assistant of the advocate general of the Punjab to bring an official of the Walled City Lahore Authority and the records requested on January 22. The judge passed an order to consolidate all cases relating to construction in the Walled City. The court had earlier stayed illegal constructions inside the Walled City.

Asif Ali Mirza and Abdul Razzak, residents of Kashmiri Gate, had filed the petitions. Their counsel Muhammad Azhar Siddique said local authorities had allowed the construction of a commercial plaza in the area. He said the respondents had dug up land next to the petitioners’ house which had damaged their property. Siddique said the respondents were building a plaza without a sanctioned a site plan or necessary permits.

He said an old imambargah which stood next to the plaza building would also be damaged due to the construction.  He said the construction had caused cracks in the walls of the 200 year-old imambargah in Kashmiri Gate. He said if the construction did not stop, the imambargah could collapse.

He said the petitioner had a licence to take out Muharram processions from the imambargah. The counsel said that he had also sent an application to the chief minister for redress of grievance.

He said on November 1, 2013, the chief minister’s complaint cell had directed the police superintendent to look into the matter and take necessary action. He said it was unfortunate that even the chief minister’s directions to senior police officers had not culminated in strict action.

He said taking action against haphazard and illegal constructions in the Walled City was under the purview of the Walled City Authority and the city district government. He said the plaza violated the Walled City Act, 2013, the Punjab Local Government Ordinance, 2001 and the Punjab Local Government Act, 2013.

He requested the court to direct the WCLA to demolish the plaza. He also requested strict action against the officials who had authorised the construction to begin with.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 17th, 2015.

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