PESHAWAR: The Building Control Authority came under fire in the Peshawar district council on Monday for poor performance and alleged corruption.

The councillors insisted roads and streets were getting narrower due to the growing encroachments in urban and semi urban areas of the provincial capital and that the inefficiency of the relevant BCA staff members were to blame for it.

The district council met with its convener, Qasim Ali Shah, in the chair.

Councillor Sardar Alam told the house that the BCA had not been following the relevant bylaws while approving the maps of commercial and residential buildings.

Councillors complain of BCA officials’ inefficiency, corruption

“The procedure of approving the maps for constructing buildings was very complicated,” he said.

He demanded of the district government to make the map approving process easier and transparent to the relief of the people.

The councillor said many commercial plazas on the busy University Road had no parking areas due to which shopkeepers and customers parked their vehicles on the road, which created hurdles in the smooth flow of the traffic.

He said according to the bylaws of the BCA, a map for the construction of commercial plaza couldn’t be approved without having a parking lot.

Alamzeb Khan alleged that building inspectors and assistant building inspectors were playing delaying tactics in approving maps.

The councillor said work on a building had completed but its map was still in the process of approval at the BCA.

He said the BCA’s officials benefitted more in the map approval than the district government in fee collection for map approval.

“More than double amount of the fee goes to the pocket of the BCA officials,” he alleged.

The councillor said keeping in view the non-cooperative attitude of the BCA, Peshawarites had begun constructing homes without the approval of their maps.

Javed Mughal said Faqirabad, Zaryab Colony and Afghan Colony were residential areas but their residents had been facing multiple problems due to commercial activities.

He alleged that in such areas, building inspectors came and went away after getting bribe from owners of commercial buildings to allow them to continue with their business.

Other councillors, including Gul Afzal, Akhtar Ali and Sahera Shaukat, also spoken about the poor performance of BCA officials.

District nazim Mohammad Asim Khan said all efforts would be made to increase the district revenue for developmental activities in Peshawar.

He said problems in the education and health departments had been decreasing as the district government was focused their attention on them.

Meanwhile, a group of disgruntled PTI councillors staged a demonstration outside the hall of the district council.

One of them, Mubashir Manzoor, told reporters that the district government had cancelled the tenders for the contract of several development projects in different wards.

“The bidding was scheduled to take place today (Monday) but when contractors showed up in the morning, they were informed about the cancelation of tenders,” he said.

The councillor alleged that tenders were cancelled on the direction of district nazim Mohammad Asim Khan.

Published in Dawn, January 10th, 2017