ISLAMABAD, March 12: Over 700 houses of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) have been occupied illegally, a source told Dawn on Tuesday.

The authority has a total of 1,400 residential units, and “most of these houses have been sub-let by the genuine occupants after taking heavy amounts”, the source said.

Despite a number of attempts, the authority has so far failed to eliminate illegal occupation of its houses, depriving eligible people of residential facility.

A large number of these official residential units have been given on political basis to political aides and influential people. Moreover, officials of district administration, Islamabad, local police and even retired employees of the CDA have acquired these houses, the source said.

He said the DIG police, senior superintendent of police, and a former board member (administration) of the CDA were residing in the authority’s specious houses in Sector F-7/3. Similarly, a house under the possession of former director public relations is in the custody of the Aabpara police station SHO.

The source said some 100 flats located in Sector G-9 had been illegally occupied by the officials of police and the district administration.

He said the practice of illegal occupation of the CDA houses started in 1988-89 and was still prevailing. During the tenure of previous government, and even at present, the CDA high-ups could take any decision regarding allotment of the authority’s residential units to its employees.

A senior authority official said a strategy had been chalked out to check such practices in future. During a drive against illegal allotment, the CDA got vacated some houses and cases of fraud had been registered with the police against their inhabitants, he added.