ISLAMABAD, May 6: The local government (LG) polls in the federal capital will be held within two months, Capital Development Authority (CDA) chairman Abdul Rauf Chaudhry said on Tuesday.

Talking to Dawn, he said there was no question of postponing of the elections. However, he agreed that LG polls in the capital had already been delayed due to some legal constrains.

The government, he said, was removing the legal complications in holding the elections. “In this connection, meetings are being held to finalize the election programme,” he added.

Answering a question about the fate of the CDA in the LG system, Mr Chaudhry said the authority board would remain intact. However, there was a possibility that district Nazim will become a member of the board, he added.

He said only the charge of CDA municipal services like water supply, sanitation, roads, street lights, health, would be handed over to the district government.

Matters like land disposal, development of new sectors, recovery of taxes and other maga projects will be handled by the authority, he added.

Meanwhile, talking about the ongoing CDA anti-encroachment drive, an interior ministry source said: “We do not want to remove all encroachments in one sweep since such action will create hue and cry in the city, therefore, the menace will be eradicated gradually.”

He said under a new authority policy, the goods confiscated during anti-encroachment drives, would not be returned, but auctioned on monthly basis.

BRIEFING ON ENVIRONMENT: The CDA chairman on Tuesday was briefed on the environmental conditions and encroachments in the capital.

The briefing as given by the officials of environment wing of the authority.

The chairman directed the environment wing to plant flowering plants on roadsides instead of trees.

He also issued instructions to induct 250 employees in the wing on daily-wage basis for two months.

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