SAHIWAL, March 10 The tehsil municipal administration (TMA) has declared illegal 72 out of total 73 housing societies under the Punjab Private Site Development Schemes (Regulation) Rules, 2005, Dawn has learned.

Of these 72, cases of only three housing societies are under process while the remaining 69 are being tried.

While the administration is prosecuting the owners of these commercial housing societies in the consumer court through Farid Town and Ghala Mandi police stations, citizens have publicly been warned against purchasing plots in these illegal housing schemes.

According to details, when the TMA collected data of commercial housing societies, it came to know that only one society had got proper no-objection certificate (NoC) and the remaining ones were selling plots, making advertisements and offering ownership rights illegally.

TMO Masood Tamana said a large number of these illegal societies had been developed in less than 70 acres of land which was yet another violation of the law.

The TMA first issued show-cause notices to the owners of these 72 societies. “No one received the notice on which the administration decided to take strict action against them under the law,” DCO Muhammad Khan Khichi said.

The DCO filed references against the owners of 32 housing societies under Section 23 (4) of the Punjab Consumer Protection Act, 2005, in the consumer court where 10 respondents did not turn up. The court directed the revenue deputy district officer to take action on which presently an inquiry is being conducted by the administration.

The TMA also contacted local cable operators and stopped them from running advertisement of these housing societies on various channels.

The TMA also gave an advertisement in the national press, directing the owners of all illegal societies to shut their businesses. Some of them responded positively while those who were adamant that they would continue their illegal activities were booked in FIRs.

The TMO lodged 17 FIRs in Farid Town and 13 in Ghala Mandi police station under the Punjab Private Site Development Schemes (Regulation) Rules, 2005.

The TMA also removed signboards, billboards and other advertising material of these societies from city roads.

The FIRs have been instituted against owners of following housing societies Mohsin Akram (Al-Querash Housing Society, 86/6-R), Muhammad Sarwar (Al-Ghani Housing Society, 93/6-R), Ghulam Murtaza (Ali Town, 856-R), Amanat Ali (Jinnah Avenue, 94/6-R), Kashif Munir (Rehman City, 89/6-R), Muhammad Asif (Zaheer Block, 85/6-R), Tahir Manzoor and Mumtaz Husain (Al-Hamid Block, 86/6-R and 85/6-R), Zulfikar (Al-Karim Garden, 85/6-R), Israrul Haq (Madina Town, 85/6-R), Abdul Hameed (Pak Avenue Phase II, 86/6-R), Shabbir Ahmed (Al-Rahim City Phase II), Zeeshan Ali (Farid Avenue), Yasin Iqbal (Millat Block, 90/9-L), Mehr Imran (Al-Khayam Bypass, 135/9-L), Farzand Ali (Allama Iqbal Town, 135/9-L), Muhammad Samzeed (Gulshan-i-Khurshid, 135/9-L), Abdul Jalil (Gulshan-i-Habib, 135/9-L), Muhammad Bilal (Ali Town, 90/9-L), Muhammad Akram (Al-Habib Phase I), Nadeem Mushtaq (Safder Block, Sabir Town, 90/9-L), Ahmed Shuja (Shuja Town, 90/9-L), Sagir Anjum (Nazim Town, 135/9L), Nazir Ahmed (Rehman Town, 135/9-L), Shaikh Shabbir (Israr Block, 135/9-L), Haji Rahmat (Rahmat Block, 135/9-L), Jamila Begum (Nazair Housing Scheme, Arif Road), Faqirullah (Rana Town, 134/9-L) and Shaikh Shabbir (Khayaban Garden 135/9-L).

Dawn learned that owners of these housing societies were approaching local political leaders to win the administration over, but it was committed to pursue the cases emphatically.