LAHORE: The governing body of the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) has asked the director-general (DG) to inquire into the issue related to the failure of the officers in getting extended the LDA (amendment) ordinance of 2021 (XVIII) promulgated on April 13, amending the LDA act, 1975 (XXX of 1975) under which the jurisdiction of the authority was reverted to the Lahore metropolitan area as defined under section 9 (1) (b) of the Punjab Local Government Act of 2019.

The body took the decision in a meeting on Sept 22 after the matter related to LDA’s jurisdiction regarding the master planning of the entire Lahore division or the metropolitan areas alone came under discussion, Dawn has learnt.

LDA DG Ahmad Aziz Tarar, however, said the issue would be resolved soon as the ordinance has been extended. “This has been extended by a resolution of the Punjab Assembly. However, the last date of extension is not available to me at the moment,” he added.

According to an official source, the 2021 (amendment) ordinance amending the LDA Act, 1975, promulgated by the governor on April 13, was not enacted on its expiry date. “Later, we heard that it was extended in August and itexpire on Oct 1,” the official source in LDA told Dawn on Sunday.

“And if this is not enacted or extended on October 1, the jurisdiction of the LDA to Lahore division (Lahore Metropolitan areas and the districts of Kasur, Sheikhupura and Nankana Sahib) would ultimately be considered as restored.”

According to the minutes of the meeting held to discuss the compliance with the decisions taken by the LDA governing body in its 6th meeting of the year held on Aug 17, the participants discussed the issues pertaining to the master planning of the Lahore division.

“It was discussed that the functions of the LDA (under the ordinance) have been restricted to the Lahore metropolitan areas. It was decided in the meeting that the opinion of the stakeholders of three districts (Kasur, Sheikhupura, and Nankana) as well as the legal aspects regarding the master plan by the LDA for areas outside its jurisdiction need to be considered”, read the minutes.

The authority constituted a committee consisting of the secretaries of housing, local government and law departments, and the LDA DG to look into the matter and submit its recommendations as soon as possible. The committee in its meetings deliberated and observed that in view of article 128 of the constitution, the matter would be reconsidered after enactment of the ordinance on this issue. However, the committee recommended that till such time the enactment is made, the LDA will restrict itself the master of Lahore.“

It may be recalled that following promulgation of the ordinance, the local government department, through a letter titled ‘Curtailment of Jurisdiction of LDA with respect to land use and housing schemes viz-a-viz Nankana Sahib, Sheikhupura and Kasur’ directed the LDA to hand it over the entire land use and private housing schemes record related to the districts of Sheikhupura, Nankana Sahib and Kasur to the respective defunct tehsil municipal administrations/municipal committees/tehsil councils with immediate effect. Following the ordinance and the direction, the LDA started handing over the entire land use/private housing schemes/subdivisions record to the respective defunct local government field formations based in these districts.

The LDA’s jurisdiction, in view of the rising complaints related to the mushroom growth of illegal housing schemes, commercial buildings and inappropriate land use in Kasur, Nankana and Sheikhupura, was expanded in 2013 to the entire Lahore division with an objective to regulate all such affairs under uniformed laws, rules/regulations and policies instead of getting these done by the then TMAs. However, the problems related to various issues in these districts couldn’t be resolved due to various legal, technical and administrative problems.

Though the then PML-N government was satisfied with its decision, the PTI government, started working to reverse most of the PML-N orders/policies, including the LDA (Amendment Act) 2013, under which the authority’s jurisdiction was expanded to other districts. Finally, Governor Chaudhry Sarwar on April 13 issued an ordinance to amend the LDA Act, 1975, deleting Sheikhupura, Kasur and Nankana Sahib from the LDA’s scope of work.

BUILDING / ZONING REGULATIONS: The LDA administration, following the decisions of the governing body in its meeting, has introduced amendments to the building and zoning regulations-2019. Under amendments (Ramps & Toilets for Persons with Disabilities), all buildings other than the residential ones would have such facilities accessible by wheelchair-bound people and those with other disabilities.

Published in Dawn, September 27th, 2021