MULTAN: Illegal buildings and establishments in various towns of the district are a blot on the landscape as their owners have failed to clear dues (prescribed fees) to the tune of Rs63.323 million, Dawn has learnt.

According to documents, it was decided that Rs50 will be charged against per cubic feet as extra charges if the height of any building in the jurisdiction of Bosan Town will be increased from the government-approved height and a notification No 788-TOR-CN-TMA/TOI&S was issued on July 4, 2002.

The construction plan of City Hospital (a private facility) was approved by the TMO up to the height of 60 feet after getting the map and charging the extra charges above the prescribed limit of 48 feet. However, the hospital owner constructed the building up to 87 feet in the fiscal year 2013-14 without submitting the revised plan and payment of Rs9.713 million (extra height fee).

The issue surfaced when a team conducted the audit of the town and in 2015 the matter was reported to the drawing and disbursing officer (DDO) who informed the audit team that the building plan of the hospital was submitted to the town administration on April 20, 2005, and that was approved on July 20, 2005.

Documents show owners have yet to clear Rs63m

He stated that according to the approved plan there were six floors, including ground floor, with the height of 60 feet and only commercialisation fee and building plan/processing fee was charged from the owners. On June 23, 2012, the then town officer planning and coordination served a notice No (M.1107-TO(P&C) on the owner stating that the plan was approved for 60 feet height, whereas it should have been approved only for 48 feet height as per clause 20(c) of TMA City Building Bylaws 2002, so the owners were liable to pay Rs6.778 million.

He stated that for extra 12 feet height above 48 feet the owners accordingly paid the same amount in installments. The audit team said even after that the dues for construction of the building up to 87 feet had not been completely recovered.

The matter was later placed in the meeting of the District Accounts Committee (DAC) in March 2015 and it directed the DDO to make complete recovery but the town administration has yet to recover the remaining charges.

During the same period, the town administration also did not recover Rs7.399 million extra height charges from the owner of Nishat Science College, Lodhi Colony, despite the fact that the owner of the college carried out construction other than approved building map.

When the matter was reported to the DDO in February 2015 by the audit team, he replied that a notice was served on the owner who submitted the revised sketch of the extra construction at site on Feb 17, 2015. The town administration calculated and charged the extra height charges of Rs3.471 million from the owner but it could not satisfy the audit team that rejected the calculation and said the recovery of Rs3.928 million was still pending.

The matter was discussed in the meeting of the DAC and the DDO was directed to get the record re-verified but the town administration has failed to show the record to the audit team.

The Musa Pak Town administration failed to recover Rs8.485 million from the owners of 23 illegally-constructed buildings. Sources said the audit team conducted the physical inspection of the buildings in the presence of the TMA’s field staff and it was revealed that either the buildings were constructed without paying the conversion fee or without the approval of the maps.

They said when the matter was reported to the TMO, he took the plea that the “realisation of commercialisation fee falls strictly under the purview of the City District Government (CDG) and no TMA is allowed to take any step.” The TMO also stated that after the Notification of Punjab Land Use (Classification, Re-Classification and Re-Development) Rules 2009, the collection of commercialisation fee came in the purview of the CDGs in five major cities of the province.

They said the audit team did not agree with the TMO and insisted that it was the responsibility of the TMA authorities to ensure that no building was constructed without approval of maps and payment of map/conversion fees. And when the matter was discussed in the DAC meeting, the committee on the insistence of senior district officers directed to refer the matter to the CDG for action besides recovery but no step has so far been taken.

The town administration of Shujabad failed to collect Rs15.352 million fee for the conversion of a residential, industrial, pre-urban and intercity service area to commercial use. According to Section 146-D of Local Government Ordinance 2001, a TMA inspector can suspend any work, seize the goods, seal the premises, demolish or remove work and issue directions for taking corrective measures in the time specified by him.

As many as 13 buildings were constructed without submitting and getting the plans approved, and without paying the conversion fee and also ignoring the building bylaws.

The town administration also did not recover the conversion fee of Rs7.9 million from the owners of Iqra College, Professor College and Punjab College besides Hashim Hospital and Al-Shifa Hospital.

Similarly, it did not recover the conversion fee of Rs3.73 million from the owners of eight housing schemes. Interestingly, one of the housing schemes had been established without submitting the plan and getting it approved from the TMA office.

Sources said the DDO did not bother to reply when the matter was reported to him by the audit team.

The administration of Sher Shah Town, according to documents, did not collect Rs1.36 million of map fees of two buildings on Abdali Road. When the audit team sought reply from the DDO, no replay was submitted.

The Shah Rukn-i-Alam Town did not collect Rs2.274 million from a mobile phone company despite the fact that various types of fees including plan fee and map fee should be recovered for the installation of tower. The DDO claimed that Rs325,968 had been recovered when the matter was reported to him by the audit team; however, the latter was not convinced.

The town administration failed to recover the conversion and map fee of Rs7.11 million from the owner of a beverages godown.

The Shah Rukn-i-Alam TMO said the reply to the objections raised by the audit team had been submitted.

Sher Shah TMO Iqbal Khan said there were eight illegal buildings and notices had been issued to their owners for the payment of fees while Bosan Town TMO Khalid Iqbal said he would look into the matter.

Some TMOs said it was the CDGs’ responsibility to check violations.

District Officer Special Planning Chaudhry Ashraf told Dawn that it’s correct that the collection of conversion fee was the responsibility of the district government but the towns were responsible to stop illegal constructions.

Published in Dawn, May 4th, 2016