RAWALPINDI: Though the metro bus project worth Rs44.81 billion is still not fully complete, encroachments have started cropping up on the acquired land adjacent to the bus stations.

Two shops have been constructed adjacent to the 6th Road bus station without the permission of the Rawal Town Municipal Administration (RTMA) and the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA).

“The front of the shops opens towards the bus station which is against the law. The owners constructed the commercial building without getting approval from the RTMA,” a senior official of the RTMA told Dawn.

He said neither any RTMA official nor RDA teams visited the city areas to stop such illegal constructions along the metro bus track.

Bilal Abbasi, a resident of Data Gunj Bux Road, told Dawn that before Eidul Fitr, there was only one shop but during the Eid holidays another one was also constructed.

He said the government should get the land vacated and construct a passageway for the area residents to use it as a service road.

When contacted, Rawal Town Regulation Officer Malik Tauseef said the construction of the shops adjacent to the bus station was illegal but it was the duty of the RDA to stop such an activity as it had acquired the land.

Published in Dawn, July 26th, 2015

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