Cabinet likely to approve authority status for DHS
By Syed Irfan Raza
ISLAMABAD, Nov 25: The federal cabinet in its meeting on Friday is likely to give the status of authority to the Defence Housing Scheme (DHS) located near Soan River, a well-placed source told Dawn on Thursday.
The source said Defence Minister Rao Sikandar Iqbal and Capital Development Authority (CDA) had already approved the plan. "If the cabinet approves the plan, the rules and regulations of CDA and Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration would not be applicable to it," the source said.
However, according to the CDA Ordinance and ICT Zoning Regulations, no other authority could be established in Islamabad in the presence of CDA and ICT administration.
In view of the cabinet meeting, Interior Secretary Tariq Mehmood on Thursday visited the CDA Headquarters where he was briefed on the targets given to the CDA by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in the last cabinet meeting.
When contacted, a senior office-bearer of the DHS said the CDA and the defence minister had already approved the plan and the management of the housing scheme was hopeful of approval of the plan by the cabinet.
A senior official of the CDA told Dawn that the DHS management had sought autonomous status for the DHA few months ago. The DHA, he said, was being established in Islamabad on the pattern of cantonment areas all over the country.
"The authority would be autonomous and it would have its own rules and regulation," the official said. He said the DHS did not fall totally in Islamabad but despite that it wanted to be registered with the CDA as authority.
Presently, the DHS has two separate phases and both are located in the jurisdiction of Rawalpindi except for some portion of its second phase falling in Islamabad.
One of its phases is located near Soan River and Fauji Foundation Headquarters, while the second is situated near Rawat. According to the CDA Ordinance-1960 there is no provision for establishment of another authority in Islamabad.
"If the DHS is given the status of authority, the area of the society falling in Rawalpindi would not only come in the limits of Islamabad but also the CDA would have no authority to monitor the development work there to ensure quality and planned construction," the source said.
Majority of the land in the housing scheme has been purchased by the armed forces personnel and a very small number of plots have been acquired by the civilians. The DHAs have already been established in various major cities of the country where no rule of any other civic body is applicable.
