LAHORE: Up to 600 private housing societies in Punjab are illegal, prompting the Punjab government to curb corrupt practices leading to the issuance of no objection certificates (NOCs) for schemes situated near rivers, nullahs, drains, streams, or flood-prone areas.

Among such schemes, 171 have been developed unlawfully in Lahore alone, according to the Board of Revenue (BoR), the department responsible for land affairs in Punjab.

This was revealed during a high-level meeting presided over by BoR Senior Member Nabeel Javed.

The meeting was attended by Special Secretary Housing Tayyab Fareed, Special Secretary to Local Government Muhammad Arshad, Lahore Development Authority (LDA) Director General Tahir Farooq, and other senior officials.

The participants were informed that Punjab has a total of 3,715 housing societies, out of which 3,119 are approved.

Among Lahore’s 443 housing societies, 171 are illegal, while the approval process for 135 is underway.

“We have decided not to issue NOCs to housing schemes or constructions situated near rivers, streams, and flood channels. The irrigation department has been directed accordingly,” Mr Javed said, adding that the step aims to prevent the loss of life and property during floods.

He added that no modifications would be allowed to the master plans of government-approved housing schemes, and developers must complete society development within three years of approval. Legal action will be taken against societies found guilty of deceiving citizens.

Mr Javed also mentioned the launch of a project to preserve the historical records of the Punjab Revenue Department.

This includes digitising and archiving settlement records, starting with a pilot project in Lahore and adjacent districts.

The Punjab Revenue Department currently has 300 record rooms, and digitisation of Gardavaries across all districts will be completed by December 30.

A BoR spokesperson revealed that under the law, NOCs cannot be issued to flood-prone housing schemes.

However, developers managed to obtain them through bribery, leading to severe losses for residents during recent floods.

The government has decided to forcefully end such corrupt practices and take action against those responsible.

Meanwhile, various teams of the Lahore Development Authority have so far retrieved around 600 kanals of land from illegal occupants in housing schemes, including Johar Town, Sabzazar, and the China Scheme in Gujjarpura.

During a meeting on Friday, directions were issued to recover precious plots in Johar Town’s K-block from encroachers.

In another meeting, Mr. Javed reviewed progress on IT projects, including digitisation of E-FOAs, Lal Kitab, Roznama Waqiati, E-Gardavari, and other systems.

The scanning of over 50,000 pages of historical books and cataloging of 3,770 Revenue Library books have been completed, with archiving work progressing rapidly.

Mr Javed directed district administrations to ensure the timely submission of Gardavari data to the BoR for digitisation and to upload settlement records on the department’s website.

Performance indicators and dashboards of district administrations across Punjab were also reviewed.

RETRIEVED: LDA teams have so far retrieved around 600 kanals from the illegal occupants in various housing schemes including Johar Town, Sabzazar and China scheme (Gujjarpura), according to a spokesman.

He said that during a meeting held on Friday, directions to retrieve precious residential and commercial plots in K-block, Johar town from the illegal occupants.

Published in Dawn, November 23th, 2024