RAWALPINDI: The Rawal Town Municipal Administration’s (RTMA) enforcement cell on Sunday razed illegal construction adjacent to 6th Road bus station of metro bus service.

After receiving the information that the building was constructed in violation of rules, District Coordination Officer (DCO) Sajid Zafar Dall ordered the RTMA officials to demolish it.

Despite weekly off, the RTMA team visited the site and razed the construction.

But the civic body failed to take action against the illegal construction along 12 big nullahs including Leh despite flood warning in the garrison city.

A senior official of the RTMA told Dawn that illegal construction on Saidpur Road, Satellite Town, Sadiqabad and Muslim Town was continued unabated but the teams of the civic body did not visit these areas.

The official said that mostly people avoided to get building plans approved as the process took more than a year.

He said commercial activity went unchecked in the residential areas of 46 union councils.

APP adds: In its crackdown on illegal construction, the Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) has issued notices to 20 property owners.

According to RCB spokesman, the staff of the board during their raids in several areas of the garrison city including Peshawar Road, Tench Bhatta, Gulshan Iqbal Colony, Habib Colony, British Homes, Afshan Colony, Masrial Road, Allama Iqbal Colony and Pirwadhai served notices on the violators of the building by-laws.

He said the ongoing operation against illegal constructions in cantonment areas has been accelerated on the special instructions of Cantonment Executive Officer (CEO) Faheem Zafar.

He said the operation had accelerated the revenue generation as the citizens were submitting their building plans to get formal approval.

The citizens should not violate the rules otherwise stern action will be taken against the violators and no relaxation will be given to anyone, he added.

Building Control Department has also issued 16 notices to the residents of dangerous and old buildings in Kamalabad, Tench Bhatta, Umar Farooq Colony, Afshan Colony and other areas, he added.

The CEO had ordered the department concerned to identify buildings with weak foundations and walls as such buildings were vulnerable in view of heavy rainfall and can become dangerous for the residents.

Published in Dawn, July 27th, 2015

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