LDA completed a number of projects in 2016

LAHORE: Besides executing more than half of the civil work of Pakistan’s first ever mass transit project, the Lahore Orange Line Metro Train, Lahore Development Authority completed a number of other projects for the benefits of the people during 2016.

Construction of the first ever flyover of the Punjab at Kahna Railway Crossing at a cost of Rs3 billion, under public private partnership made on BOT basis, will serve as a trendsetter for more project under such arrangement.

Project for construction of access road from Ferozepur Road to LDA city, widening/improvement and rehabilitation of Defence Road from LDA City Access Road to Hadyara Drain Bridge and widening of bridge over Hadyara drain on Defence Road were completed a at a total cost of Rs1.80 billion.

A sum of Rs3.21 billion had been spent on improvement of road network project which included construction of a new 2.5 kilo-meters long road from Khayaban-e-Jinnah to Defence Road, construction of 1.4km long road from Defence Road to Butcher Khana distributory, construction of 2.6km road from Lake City to Adda Plot along Butcher Khana distributory, widening/improvement and rehabilitation of Defence Road and construction of missing links from Valencia Town to Engineers Town. 

Construction of four-lane dual carriageway in Pakistan Kidney and Liver Transplant Institute, Lahore, carried out at a cost of Rs554.95 million.

Project for widening of Canal Road from Thokar Niaz Baig to Doctor’s Hospital and from Mall Road Underpass to  Harbanspura Interchange by six meters, along with construction of Chubacha underpass was in progress which will cost a sum of Rs5.12 billion. Construction of underpass at railway crossing near Gurumanget Road, Lahore at a cost of Rs224 million was also in progress.

Traffic Engineering and Transportation Planning Agency of LDA has completed more than 53 percent work on construction of flyover at Katcha Jail Road in Kot Lakhpat area for connecting Moulana Shaukat Ali Road to Ferozepur Road. The project will cost one billion rupees.

The Metropolitan Planning Wing of LDA carried out 74 operations against illegal housing schemes in the city during 2016. It served notices to 182 housing schemes for slow pace of execution of development works in these localities besides sealing offices of 35 schemes for their failure in executing transfer of mortgaged deed of public utility plots in favour of LDA.

Demolition operations against illegal constructions and violations of building bye-laws were carried out in 45 housing schemes. Preliminary planning permission was granted to seven housing schemes while technical approval had been given for four housing societies.

Amendment to master plan for Lahore Division 2016 was notified in July-2016 for Lahore, Sheikhupura, Nankana and Kasur districts. By virtue of this notification, a number of pending cases regarding approval of private housing schemes/land sub-divisions in Lahore division shall be processed as previously there was no policy document in many tehsils/towns of these districts and this amendment will encourage planned development. Planning and designing of LDA City Scheme was under process and expected to be completed in March, 2017.

Town Planning Wing of LDA collected more than Rs2.70 billion on account of commercialisation fee, including Rs2.35 billion under the head of permanent commercialisation and remaining Rs350 million against annual/temporary commercialisation during the year 2016.

Around 1,200 properties, which had failed to pay the commercialisation fee despite repeated notices, had been sealed during this period to gear up collection of commercialisation charges from these properties.

All the 2,447 applications seeking permanent commercialisation were disposed of. All the 3,860 applications received for approval of building plans were disposed of. Completion certificates of buildings were issued on all the 1,424 applications received for this purpose. More than 279 illegal buildings had been demolished and 179 sealed in different housing schemes and controlled area.

All the directors of Lahore Development Authority ensured their presence at the One Window Cell of LDA daily for one hour from 11am to 12 noon. They personally listened to the issues of the people pertaining to their respective directorates and took all possible measures for earliest solution to these issues.

The One Window Cell received a total of 61,482 applications of various types which were submitted by the people, during the year 2016. Out of these 56,779 applications were disposed of. An average of 190 applications had been disposed of daily out of the 206 applications received at the One Window Cell during 2016, at a disposal rate of 92 percent daily. 

Almost 4,685 applications for issuance of No Objection Certificate were disposed of out of the 5,158 applications received for this purpose. A total of 4,657 applications were received for issuance of transfer letters out of which 4,893 had been disposed of.

Other applications pertained to issuance of attested copy of challan, issuance of attested copy, allocation letter, allotment of plot, building period extension challan, issuance of building period extension, balance dues, change of plot, checking of file, construction of duplicate file, correction/amendment, court orders, duplicate papers challan, excess area challan, exemption approval, exemption challan, exemption letter, final demand notice, gift transfer, legal heirs, line marking, NOC challan, NOC issuance, PTM issuance, PTM challan, physical possession, placement of documents challan, placement of documents issue, possession order, publication challan, publication issue, release of mortgaged  plots, reminder, reply to notice, site plan, stay order, sub-division challan, sub-division issue, urgent transfer challan, urgent transfer issue and verification of documents.

The security featured documents cell of LDA issued a total 1,045 documents of 25 different natures, including allocation letter, completion certificate, physical possession, entitlement pro forma, exchange letter, exemption letter, legal heirs, ownership requisition, PTM, physical possession, possession order, qabza patwari, sanction plan and transfer letter during 2016.