Govt mulls middle way to 'legalise' illegal plazas

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

LAHORE - Flouting Supreme Court’s strict orders against illegal high rising buildings, the Punjab government braces itself to find a middle way to rescue maximum number of plazas from demolition operation launched from December, 2009. A high-level committee headed by Lahore Division Commissioner Khusro Pervaiz has come into action to design the “middle way” to turn illegal plazas into legal plazas.
The committee comprising LDA DG Umer Rasool, Chief Town Planner Wasim Ahmed Khan, known architects, developers and private contractors has been tasked to categorise 450 illegal plazas to explore all possibilities to legalise bylaws irregularities in the plazas.
It will recommend the regularisation of these plazas with huge penalties instead of demolishing them. It will also decide the status of plazas fixing the violations compoundable (legalized by penalties) and non-compoundable i.e, which could not be legalised at any cost.
Though CM Punjab declined to legalise the violations of plazas in return of pecuniary penalties. Likewise LDA spokesman also said that building bylaws violations were non-compoundable and all plazas were doomed to be demolished. However, plan is in action to regularise the illegal plazas.
This is the major shift in the ongoing demolition plan initiated in the light of recommendation of commission constituted by Supreme Court of Pakistan. The change in policy leaves the impression that building mafia has succeeded in striking clandestine deal with the government.
Sources privy to development revealed that LDA had also constituted a committee headed by LDA Additional Director General (Housing) Mansoor Qadir to take stock of the infringements in the construction of plazas and lay down its recommendations about the imposing fines to get them regularised. The committee comprises PML-N MPAs Dr Saeed Elahi, Mohsin Latif, Khawaja Salman Rafiq, jurist Rafeh Alam, Architect Ahmed Mukhtar, Structural engineer Arif Hussain and LDA Chief Town Planner Waseem Ahmed.