ISLAMABAD: In the absence of supervision by the Capital Development Authority (CDA), E-11 is speckled with unregulated buildings and the whole sector seems to have been made without planning, with the city managers turning a blind eye to the development, or lack thereof, in the sector.

Unlike the rest of Islamabad, there is just one road that leads in and out of the sector and that too, a service road that seems to be a trail worn by frustrated motorists. This ‘road’ caters to the whole of E-11 as well as D-12. Residents who live at the other end of the sector, across from the F-11 Markaz, have to cross the whole sector via a twisting road riddled with pits and ditches to get to the trail of a road to get to the city.

Construction work on another lane for the road is currently underway, but without the construction of at least two roundabouts or intersections, it is hard to imagine how the smooth flow of traffic will be ensured.

Right at the beginning of the sector, several marquees line up along Margalla Road. These wedding halls were established without following rules and regulations. They add to the nuiances faced by motorists as they have to battle wedding processions when going to and from their homes every day and several cars that are part of the happy processions are parked along the already narrow ‘road’ leading into the sector.

Because there is no check by the CDA, the whole sector, which was ‘developed’ by five housing societies, is dotted with unregulated high rises.

The civic body looks the other way as housing societies encroach on public land, use up land reserved for public spaces and construct unapproved buildings

“E-11 is an exempted sector though we are amending our regulations to monitor the buildings here,” said Sharif Marwat, the director building control.

When asked if CDA issues no-objection certificates (NOC) to approve maps for the construction of buildings, the director said: “No, but in the future we will monitor all activities in the sector.”

“This is a no-man’s land and if there is no check on unregulated construction, this sector will be the other Layari Town of the country,” said a resident of the sector, Raza Azhar.

He said that though the CDA looks after the rest of Islamabad, officials of the civic authority say they are not responsible for the sector.

Most of the housing societies, which are responsible for developing the sector, have eaten up the land which was meant for parks, mosques, graveyards and other public spaces,

“Government authorities looked the other way when this sector was being developed which means that residents are faced with a plethora of problems. There are no green areas in the sector,” said a resident, Tahir Malik, who also complained about there being no sewerage treatment plant in the entire sector.

According to CDA documents, which the civic agency recently produced before a Senate standing committee, one of the housing societies by the name of the Pakistan Medical Cooperative Housing Society has also constructed buildings over 29 kanals which were reserved for public spaces and also 5.52 kanals reserved for a graveyard. This society also sold 19 kanals of land meant for a park to be established on.

A few months ago, State Minister for Capital Administration and Development Division Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry acknowledged in the National Assembly that of the dozens of buildings in the sector, the layouts of only three had been approved by the CDA.

He had said that E-11 was an exception in Zone I because it was an acquired and residential sector of the civic authority.

However, the Auditor General of Pakistan’s report of 2013-14 indicated that the CDA had failed to protect the land it owns in the sector and that housing societies had encroached on 458 kanals of CDA-owned land, together worth Rs2.3 billion.

Illegal allotment, transfer of land to housing societies

Between 3,000 and 3,500 kanals of land in the sector was allotted to various housing societies without lawful authority, sources in the CDA told Dawn.

Various registers kept accepting power of attorneys without lawful authority when the civic authority does not have powers under the CDA Ordinance to transfer and allot that land.

The allotment and subsequent transfer of land to housing societies is against the Islamabad Land Disposal Regulations (ILDR-1993), they said.

“The allotment and transfer orders were addressed to housing societies when under the Zoning Regulations of the CDA, private housing societies can be given an NOC for development under certain terms and conditions rather than allotment and transfers,” a senior CDA official explained.

The officer recalled that CDA’s board had on February 15, 2011 approved a summary under the influence of housing societies and against the provision of ICT zoning regulations of 1992 as well as against the master plan of Islamabad.

E-11 was also illegally included in Zone II of the federal capital in order to accommodate a few housing societies, the officer said.

Another officer said that the building control and enforcement wing of the CDA were also silent spectators to the violations being done in the sector every day.

“Everyone from officers in the land directorate to the planning wing, the building control department to the enforcement directorates are responsible for the state of E-11,” the officer said.

Published in Dawn, May 21st, 2016