ISLAMABAD, April 23: An illegal building, ostensibly to house a mosque and a religious institution, is coming up fast at a green belt in the immediate neighbourhood of a residential area of Sector F-11/4.

An official of the CDA confirmed that there was no provision for building such an institution or a mosque at the spot in the master plan of Islamabad.

The mosque and the building for the institution are being constructed adjacent to CDA’s development and horticulture office. However, the CDA administration is not taking any action against the encroachment of the green belt.

An ICT administration source said, the matter was brought to the notice of Islamabad chief commissioner two years ago who ordered that the district administration had no plan to regularise the proposed building or the mosque.

However, he did allow temporary construction of the mosque in the green belt in lieu of another mosque that was to be constructed in a commercial area but directed that it should be 150 to 200 meters away from the residential area.

The plan to construct the mosque in a commercial area was abandoned because while the mosque belonged to one school of Islamic thought, population in an adjacent village belonged to another.

The interior ministry also tried to resolve the matter and issued a letter on September 20, 2001, allowing construction of the mosque in the green belt. But this time the ministry reduced the distance between the mosque and the residential area from 200 metres to 294 feet.

The ministry however ordered that the access to the mosque should be provided from the Eastern Service Road of the sector, instead of the side opening towards the residential area.

When contacted, an official of District Auqaf Department (DAD), Islamabad, said the under-construction Mosque had not been registered with the DAD.

He said the DAD had already sent its report to the ministry of interior regarding the illegal construction and proposed another site for it. He said if the mosque was constructed at present site, it should be surrounded by a wall to avoid further encroachment of the green belt in future.

Meanwhile, an official of the CDA said the authority had included this mosque in a list of illegal mosques established in Islamabad. The list has been sent to the interior ministry, he added.