GUJRANWALA, Aug 30: The cases of illegal housing schemes will be sent to NAB for recovery of construction cost of government from scheme owners. The housing department has started preparing list of owners.

Sources told Dawn that various people started the business of illegal housing schemes and allegedly extorted hundreds of thousands of rupees from plot owners for provision of water supply, sewerage, health and education. But they disappeared after selling all plots of the schemes without depositing the expenditure of construction work with the national treasury.

Taking serious notice of the scam, the government directed the housing and physical planning department to prepare the lists of illegal housing schemes for sending the cases to NAB.

Meanwhile, the Gujranwala Development Authority after a survey declared 42 housing schemes illegal. A GDA spokesman said some parties acquired agricultural land in and around the city and launched housing schemes without any approval. He said the authority had asked the owners to get their schemes regularized but no one applied for it so far.

TRANSPORT ROUTES: The regional transport authority in a meeting here on Monday approved three local routes and directed traffic police not to tease transporters during checking of vehicle documents till the issuance of route permits.

The meeting was presided over by RTA chairman DCO Fazeel Asgher while authority's secretary, traffic police and other senior officers were also present.

The meeting was told that three routes - Qila Dedar Singh to Sheikhupura Morr, Gondlanwala Chowk to Klasski and Chand Da Qila bypass intersection to Kangniwala intersection had been approved for plying public transport vehicles.

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