NAB seeks details of illegal societies from LDA

National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has asked Lahore Development Authority to provide complete details of illegal private housing societies, which for the past several years have looted hard earned money of hundreds of thousands of citizens in the name of providing them their dream house.

Sources in LDA said that so far details of over 300 illegal housing societies/schemes have been provided to NAB in recent past while list of more than 350 illegal housing societies is being prepared. “NAB has asked us to furnish complete details of all illegal housing societies falling in the jurisdiction of LDA and we are completely cooperating with NAB,” said Chief Metropolitan Town Planner Waheed Butt while talking with the scribe.

Sources said LDA’s Metropolitan Planning Wing is responsible to check, scrutinise and allow a private housing society/scheme in the LDA’s controlled area but allegedly the wing joined hands with land mafia and allowed establishment of hundreds of unapproved/illegal housing societies.

Sources revealed that similarly hundreds of thousands of applications of citizens against fraudulent practices of land mafia are pending at different government offices, including LDA, NAB, Police, Chief Minister Complaint Cell and etc.

Metropolitan Planning Wing’s main role is future planning of Lahore as well as processing of private housing schemes. Under the procession of private housing schemes, the wing is responsible for scrutiny of building plans of private housing schemes, scrutiny of NOCs as per proposed schemes and preparation and implementation of master plan.

As per LDA rules, a new scheme should submit an application to the wing, which will see that all the basic parameters are fulfilled. Then the case will be sent to the scrutiny committee, which will allow execution of the scheme after fulfillment of planning standards. The wing also mortgage plots of the society and in case of any illegality LDA can sell the mortgaged plots.

A senior LDA official of the wing seeking anonymity said that as per rules, the open spaces/parks should not be less than 7 percent of total scheme area, graveyard should not be less than 2 percent of total scheme area, commercial area should not be more than 5 percent of total scheme area, public buildings should be 2 percent to 10 percent of total scheme area, maximum size of residential plots should not be more than 1000 Sq.Yds and minimum road width should not be less than 30 feet. However, originally hundreds of societies have surfaced in Lahore that didn’t get any approval from LDA or TMA and the main question which comes to one’s mind is why LDA had not taken any action against the illegal society during its execution. Similarly one can witness violation of rules and regulations in several approved housing schemes such as smaller roads, no parks, graveyard land converted into residential plots and etc.

Waheed Butt, LDA’s Chief Metropolitan Town Planner said the authority had sealed offices of dozens of housing societies while demolition of road and other structures of such societies had also been done in routine. He said it was the responsibility of a buyer to always check the legal status of a housing society from the LDA before making the final transaction. He said LDA also runs a vigorous media campaign against such societies and names of illegal housing schemes are being made public through national dailies advertisements to safeguard the citizens from land mafia.