DHA Lahore Bahria Town Map Plots Houses Buy Sell Rent Property Prices

ISLAMABAD (February 08, 2011) : The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has decided to launch a massive operation to evacuate its land and has demanded support from Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Administration and Islamabad Police in order to make this operation a success.

The decision to launch operation was taken in a meeting held on Monday with Chairman CDA, Imtiaz Inayat Elahi in the chair while Chief Commissioner Islamabad, Tariq Pirzada, senior officers of ICT Administration, Islamabad Police and other concerned departments also participated.

A Co-ordination Committee consisting of the representatives of CDA, ICT Administration and Islamabad Police was constituted to monitor the development regarding evacuation and recovery of land from illegal occupation. During the meeting Chairman CDA, Imtiaz Inayat Elahi apprised the participants that the land was acquired in 1960s. With the passage of time people started to encroach and built property on CDA land, he added.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan has directed CDA to get the land vacated and start development work, the CDA chief said, adding that after apex court orders the CDA evacuated 300 kanals of land in Malpur area in addition to vast stretches of land in other areas of the federal Capital.

Elahi also informed the meeting that the operation was being conducted on regular basis in this regard, especially, clearing the right of way along Kashmir Highway. He said that a comprehensive strategy in this regard has been prepared to get the remaining land vacated.

He said that the media would be taken on board. He said that public notice has been published in the national media warning the encroachers to vacate the CDA land within 7 days. He said that the Supreme Court of Pakistan was being apprised on regular basis in this regard.

He said that CDA was reinforcing its Enforcement Directorate to execute the operation. He said that a system of awards was being formulated to acknowledge the efforts of the officers and officials participating in the operation. Chief Commissioner Islamabad, Tariq Pirzada assured the full support of ICT administration to CDA for evacuation of the land illegally occupied by people.

A special team would monitor the areas to facilitate the staff, Pirzada said, adding that the support of the locals should also be sought in addition to taking the media on board on the issue. He said that all out efforts would be made to get the land vacated. The representative of Islamabad Police also assured full co-operation in the operation saying that police would be fully participating in the operation as and when required.

PC for establishing land privatisation commission: releasing state-owned land for commercial purposes
ISLAMABAD (February 08, 2011) : The Planning Commission (PC) has proposed a land privatisation commission to release all the unproductive land owned by the state for commercial purposes. In its paper titled ‘new growth framework, it proposed that the government ownership of city-centre land needed to be reduced to strengthen the decentralisation to allow city planners adequate control over their land and resources.

The government ownership is retarding growth, therefore, land banks at provincial level be set up to release idle state-owned land in favour of dense mixed use places to encourage public-private partnerships. The current state of cities in Pakistan is abysmal and urban population is escalating at a rapid rate of 3 percent with the existing urban population of 60 million (36% of the total population).

The city dwellers do not have much say in the running of the city. But a great deal of involvement by the government bodies is apparent in taking managerial and administrative decisions. The prevalent confusion regarding how modern cities should be governed is growing acute. The lack of affordable space and poor commercial laws has hindered the growth of cities.

There is need that all legislative bodies must review rent laws and remove clauses which unjustifiably favour tenants and restrict the functioning of the rental market, zoning laws should be improved and made transparent and modernise land registration system by electronically recording all transfers of land title in a centralised data base.

Housing information system should be established to provide data on housing demand and supply from the district level to the national level. It should also include Housing Price Index and Housing Access Index with the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Statistics. A regulatory body must also be established for property dealers to register themselves officially. Relax zoning and building regulations to enable dense development of housing and vertical expansion.

There is a need to reduce cost of construction by encouraging foreign developers to compete in the Pakistani market and facilitate research and development in low cost and energy efficient construction techniques. Increase access to housing finance through sound foreclosure laws and computerised credit information. Curtail growth of Katchi Abadis by using market based solutions to produce low income housing. The above stated issues need immediate reform efforts so that appropriate economic geography can help Pakistan grow better, the paper added.

Detail OF Illegal Housing Schemes Falling In Rawalpindi Development Authority’s (RDA) Jurisdiction
S. NO. Name Of Housing Society Name Of Developer / Management Committee (Complete Address)
1. National Town. Main Muhammad Waseem Project Manager, National
Town DD 654, National Plaza, Shamsabad, Rawalpindi.

2. City Modal Town. Raja Mohammad Azad Khan, 65 Poonch House, Adam Jee
Road, Rawalpindi.
3. Gulshan-e-Iqbal. Raja Shahid, Site Office Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Mouza Mohri
Ghazan, Dhamial Road, Rawalpindi.
4. Khayaban-e-Millat. Sh. Mukhtar Ahmed
K-5, Murree Road, Rawalpindi.
5. OGDC Town Adyala Road. Tasneem Ahmed S/O Niaz Ahmed
OGDC Employees Co-Operative Housing Society, Mouza
Dahgal, Adyala Road, Rawalpindi.
6. Radio Colony. Mian Tariq Din General Secretary Azad Kashmir Radio
Co-Operative Housing Society, 21 Asam Plaza, Murree
Road, Rawalpindi.
7. Gulshan-e-Ali. Sh. Mohammad Ali, Wattan Builders, M-21, Murree Road,
Rawalpindi.
8. Janjua Town. Altaf Hussain Janjua, H. No. 66, Street No. 4, Mohallah
Officers Colony, Rawalpindi.
9. Jinnah Town Khyber Housing
Society.
Ch. Tariq Mehmood Toor S/O Ch. Hanif Ali Toor,
H. No. P/698, Said Pur Road, Mohallah Angat Pura,
Rawalpindi.
10. Samarzar housing Project. Sardar Farooq,
House No. 626, Sector I-10/4, Islamabad.
11. Khayban-e-Quaid. Ghulam Nabi Khan S/O Haji Ghulam Mohammad Khan,
House No. C-169, Mohallah Chishtiabad, Rawalpindi.
12. Hamza Town. Raja Zahid & Raja Mumtaz, Rajco International Property
Consult, Office No. 3, Shahid Market Near Samarzar
Colony, Adiala Road, Rawalpindi.
13. Gulberg Town Adiyala Road. Maqbool Ahmed S/O M. Amin International Housing (Pvt)
Ltd., 1st Floor, Al-Amin Plaza, Mall Road, Rawalpindi.
14. Lawyers Co-Operative housing
Society.
Ch. Nasrullah Khan, President, Lawyers Co-Operative
Housing Society, Lawyers Chamber No. 2, Block No. 17,
District Court, Rawalpindi.
15. Gulrez Housing Scheme. Ch. Rasheed Ahmad, Gulrez Welfare Society, Gulrez
Housing Scheme, Mouza Kotha Kalan, Rawalpindi.
16. Rasool Town. Capt ® Azhar Rasool Qureshi S/O Tariq Rasool,
2nd Floor, Askari Plaza, 266 Kashmir Road, Rawalpindi.
17. Silicon Valley. Mr. Tahir Javed, Chairman Urban Developers (Silicon
Valley) Chartered Town Planner, 90, 1st Floor, Razia
Sharif Plaza, Blue Area, Islamabad.
18. Al-Haram City-II. Ch. Muhammad Akram Manger, Office No. 44, 1st Floor
Mian Plaza, Near Chandni Chowk, Murree Road,
Rawalpindi.
19. Islamabad Telecommunication City
Housing Scheme.
Mr. Muhammad Ikram, 2nd Floor, Ratta Mansion, Fazal-e-
Haq Road, Blue Area, Islamabad.
20. Garden Town Ship/Madina Tus
Salam.
Mr. Mohammad Zafar Iqbal,
H. No. 312, Street-21, Sector I-9/1, Islamabad
Rana Mohammad Azad,
Office No. 7, Gulshan Plaza, Murree Road, Rawalpindi.
21. Airport Employees Co-Operative
Housing Scheme.
President, Airport Employees Co-Operative Housing
Society, Airport Link Road, Behind Gulzar-e-Quaid,
Rawalpindi.
22. Sanghar Town. Mr. Mobeen Sabir & Mr. Shoukat Abbasi, Sanghar Town,
Mouza Gangal, Service Road, Near Mangral Town,
Rawalpindi.
23. Fazal Town Phase-II. Haji Fazal-ur-Rehman, Fazal Town Phase-I, Near Tabish
House, Airport Link Road, Chaklala, Rawalpindi.
24. Palm City. Malik Ghulam Mahboob, Malik Atta & Rao Sami Ullah,
House No. 106, Kiyani Street, Ayub Colony, Khayaban-e-
Tanveer, Near Chaklala Scheme-III, Rawalpindi.
25. Lawyers Town Ship. Mr. Sikander Bhatti, President Lawyer Township Co-
Operative Housing Society Chaklala Ikran Law Associates,
North Star Plaza, Murree Road, Rawalpindi.
26. T & T Colony Morgah. Razaq A. Mirza, President T & T Housing Society, 53 B
Haider Road, Near GPO Saddar, Rawalpindi.
27. Al-Muslim Estate. Ch. Muhammad Aslam, Al-Muslim Estate, Main Markaz
Gulshan-e-Abad, Adayala Road, Rawalpindi.
28. Jabbar Colony. Mr. Jabbar Khan S/O Ameer Khan, H. No. 33-34, Chaklala
Scheme-III, Rawalpindi.
29. Usman Block. Haji Fazal-ur-Rehman, Fazal Town Phase-I, Near Tabish
House, Airport Link Road, Chaklala, Rawalpindi.
30. Jubilee Town. Raja Shahid, Site Office Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Mouza Mohri
Ghazan, Dhamial Road, Rawalpindi.
31. Federation of employees
Cooperative Housing Scheme.
Room No. 10, 1st Floor, Railway Society Plaza 43, Allama
Iqbal Road, Ghari Shahu, Lahore.

LAHORE: Model Town Society members are pressing the Town Municipal Administration to select a new location for the area’s Sunday Bazaar so they can push ahead with a plan to boost local commercial activities, The Express Tribune has learnt.

The Model Town Sunday Bazaar is currently located in K-Block, but its future there is uncertain because of a land dispute. About half the land is owned by the Lahore Development Authority and the other half by private individuals, who do not want a Sunday Bazaar on their plots. The matter is pending in court.

“Multinationals like Standard Chartered Bank, Unilever, Zong and others would start commercial activities in the Sunday Bazaar if it were in a permanent location,” said Saffura Perveiz Bhatti, a social activist who is one of the society members at the forefront of the push for relocation of the bazaar and a long-time Model Town resident.

Bhatti said she was one of the founders of the Sunday Bazaar in Defence in Karachi, which was originally a private venture. That bazaar has grown into one of the biggest markets in South Asia, she said, and she wants changes made at the Model Town Sunday Bazaar too.

“The bazaar has already been transferred several times. First it was in D-Block, then G-Block. Now it’s in K-Block but the case is in court. All this shifting has made it impossible for society members to invite multinationals for commercial activities,” she said. Bhatti said that Model Town Society members had asked Gulberg Town Officer (Regulation) Faisal Shahzad to frame a proposal for the transfer of the Sunday Bazaar to M-Block, where it could also serve the residents of Garden Town and Faisal Town. The Model Town Society would then arrange for commercial activities at that bazaar, as at the bazaar in Defence, Karachi, or in I-9, Islamabad, she said.

District Coordination Officer Ahad Cheema said that he would approve any project that was beneficial to the Sunday Bazaar visitors and which improved facilities. “We would certainly consider it after examining the project thoroughly. If the residents and shoppers are happy, the LDA would be directed to allocate land for the bazaar,” he said.

LAHORE: The government must freeze the housing sector finance for at least 10 years into single digit to promote the construction industry and to meet the country’s housing demands.

Participants in the Jang Economic Session on the ‘Role of Housing Sector in National Economy’ added the country needs 0.5 million units per annum and only 0.2 million houses were being constructed. The moot was held here on Tuesday.

The participants were Habib Ahmed, MD Habib Rafiq Group, Chairman Punjab Land Development Company (PLDC) Sheikh Allauddin, Engineer Akbar Sheikh Zamin, developer Mian Tahir Javeed, Chairman Urban Developers Irfan Qaiser Sheikh, former Chairman PIAF and Main Fazal Ahmed, President Engineers Study Forum. The session was jointly hosted by Sikindar Hameed Lodhi and Intikhab Tariq.

Habib Ahmed said construction industry ran 40 other industries at parallel, which created real economic activity in the country. He stressed the need to promote vertical housing construction, which was relatively cheaper as compared to traditional housing units. He called for the implementation of Housing Policy 2001 approved by the cabinet. He also suggested introduction of modern technology in housing construction, which was used all over the world, which was also helpful in promoting the construction industry. He said the government developed mortgage industry as well, with at least 10 to 15 years single digit frozen mark-up rate.

Sheikh Allauddin said that there was no urban limits of Lahore. One developer made a housing scheme 60-km away from Lahore with a golf course and was calling it as within Lahore. He said if the government was sincere in giving houses to common man, then it must provide subsidies on constriction material. He said the government also introduced rules of constructing a house on a plot within a specific time period after which fine would be imposed on the plot holders. He said the PLDC has shifted the location of the Aashyana project while new applications would also be invited before balloting while over 19,000 applications were received. He said similar low cost housing projects would also be introduced in Jehlum, Sargodha and Faisalabad after completion of the Lahore project.

Akbar Sheikh said there was no department and database about the housing sector of Pakistan. He said the government collected up to 30 per cent revenue from construction spending and this construction industry was a cash cow for it. He said no developer was bringing any product for Rs 15,000 to 20,000 monthly income group people who could only pay maximum Rs 8,000 monthly for their housing unit. He said low cost housing projects were also not commercially sustainable in the absence of low mark-up rate housing finance in the country.

Mian Tahir Javeed said 80 per cent housing societies were developing without planning and approval of the authorities concerned, which caused problems for the government. He said these societies were developed without basic amenities of sewerage, water, electricity, gas and others due to which government expenses to provide facilities to public increased. He said the approved scheme developers paid for every amenity to the government due to which the cost of the price of land and housing units was unmatchable with unapproved societies. He said India had zero rated the housing sector for four years while in many parts of the western world zero rated financing facilities were available to it. He said construction cost was increased quickly in Pakistan and the government must develop a mechanism to control it for promotion of construction industry.

Irfan Qaiser said that world over, the housing sector was an indicator of growth and also played a vital role in economic growth. He said the construction sector not only creates job in developing and under developed economies but also in developed countries. He said monthly earning of both skill and unskilled labour construction industry could be doubled by providing with 6 to 12 months technical crash courses. He said reducing the anti dumping duties from the construction industry raw material could also promote this sector as locally produced raw material was costlier then the imported one. He said the government should promote vertical housing culture as in Singapore 81 per cent housing need was catered through apartments.

Mian Fazal Ahmed said that the government revisits the national housing policy according to modern needs and implements it as well. He said modernization of housing and construction sector could bring down the poverty and unemployment from country. He suggested Malaysian model.

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court will hear the Rs 50 billion Royal Palm Golf and Country Club land scam case today (Monday).

The court had, on January 13 admitted for regular hearing the petition jointly filed by former minister of state for railways Ishaq Khan Khakwani and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) founding member Dr Mobashir Hassan.

The petitioners alleged that 141 acres of land had been leased out to the Hussain Construction Company during the government of General ® Pervez Musharraf in a non-transparent manner and flagrant violation of the settled principles, causing a loss of Rs 50 billion to the national exchequer.

The court had asked the company, which operates the club in the heart of Lahore, to submit a report disclosing the names of the investors, sponsors and shareholders of the project.

The railways board had been asked to submit the records of transaction between the railways and the lessee, and particulars of the officers involved.

“Prima facie we are of the opinion that a number of questions of public importance as well as fundamental rights in terms of property, security and national interests are involved,” the bench had observed in the last hearing.

Lieutenant General ® Javed Ashraf Qazi was directed to submit a suitable reply to the allegations levelled by the petitioner against him.

He was the railways minister when the deal took place. Former railways chairman Lieutenant Colonel ® Saeeduz Zafar and senior officers Major General ® Hamid Hassan Butt and Khurshid Alam were also asked to submit their replies. “Their absence in the court will deem to be considered as if they have nothing to rebut the allegations,” the order said.