ISLAMABAD: According to records from the Capital Development Authority (CDA), a housing society has been developing high-rise commercial structures on the Soan River’s right-of-way, in contravention of its authorized layout plan.

They claimed that according to the authorized layout design, the area where the plazas were being built was intended for a park and was the Soan River’s right-of-way.

According to sources in the enforcement division of the authority, the Planning Wing recently requested action to halt unauthorized buildings because it feared urban flooding, particularly in the context of flooding in E-11 in 2021 and floods in tourist destinations Bahrain and Kalam last year.

The officials said they had received a letter stating that, by an order from the Islamabad High Court (IHC), a team from the CDA had visited the aforementioned society earlier this month.

The team found that contrary to the layout plan of the society that the CDA had approved in 2010, about 20 more commercial buildings stood constructed on the land and about 5 more were being built there.

Additionally, CDA representatives displayed the authorized layout plan, in which the area in issue was designated as a park and river right-of-way.

However, several plazas have since been built there, and many more are now being built.

The Planning Wing also requested that the Environment Wing and Building Control Directorate take action against the society, while a notice was given to the aforementioned society.

Even though the letters were sent out on January 5, and nothing was done about the violations, there are reports that CDA has been under pressure from some quarters to refrain from taking action against the society.

Furthermore, some of these reports even claim that indirect action may be taken against those daring officials who had brought attention to the violations.

According to a source, some officials will certainly suffer the repercussions of performing their duties appropriately, rather than receiving letters of gratitude.

Syed Asif Raza, a CDA spokesman, verified that the letters had been delivered, adding that, the civic organization had recently sent notices to other societies, including the one in question.

When questioned about making some officials the scapegoat, he responded, “Such claims are untrue. Our assets are the people who are working hard.”

Source: Dawn

Ref

https://propakistani.pk/proproperty/cda-serves-notice-to-private-housing-scheme-for-illegal-construction/