GUJRAT: Following complaints of fraud by some housing schemes and town developers, the district administration has declared at least 15 housing schemes as illegal across the district.

A warning to citizens and investors has also been issued by the land revenue and local government departments to avoid purchase of plots through ‘file system’.

In a notification issued here on Thursday, Gujrat Deputy Commissioner Rizwan Qadeer said illegal housing colonies did not have any permission of the authority concerned to purchase or sale the land and moreover the management of some approved colonies too were involved in selling plots through file system which was entirely illegal.

He said the public should first check the legal status of a colony before making any deal with the housing scheme management.

Besides the list of illegal and unapproved housing schemes, the administration has also released a list of legally approved colonies in the district.

According to official sources, the administration issued the warning after complaints of forgery and cheating by the overseas Pakistanis.

Adding they said that even some of the approved schemes management had sold thousands of kanals land illegally in the name of phase 2 or extension projects that was otherwise not allowed to them.

Gujrat Additional Deputy Commissioner (revenue) Amer Shahzad Kang told Dawn that the land revenue department had submitted a detailed report to the DC regarding the legal status of the housing colonies in the light of which a list of approved and unapproved colonies had been released to protect the public and expatriates.

In case of fraud, he said the burden of resolving the issue was with the land revenue department, police and the administration and that was why such a notification was required for the awareness of masses.

Out of total 15 illegal housing schemes, at least 10 are from Kharian and Sara-i-Alamgir tehsils and five from Gujrat tehsil whereas out of total 18 lawfully approved colonies, 14 fall in Gujrat tehsil, three in Sara-i-Alamgir and one in Dinga (Kharian).

Published in Dawn, June 24th, 2022