HYDERABAD: Officers of the departments that had been handling commercialisation of residential plots in the past and now have to explain their respective positions before an inquiry committee turned up unprepared on Sunday.

The inquiry is being held under the directives of the Supreme Court-appointed one-man judicial commission, headed by retired Justice Amir Hani Muslim, on water quality and sanitation in Sindh.

The committee had asked them to submit details of the matter within two days in the commissioner’s office so as to put things in black and white. The committee is to forward the inquiry report to the judicial commission.

The committee will hold its next deliberation on Nov 30.

The probe is being conducted jointly by Hyderabad Commissioner Mohammad Abbas Baloch and Local Government Secretary Khalid Hyder Shah.

Staying construction work on residential plots – commercialised after certain procedure from time to time and where plazas and commercial activity was permitted by the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA), the judicial commission had on Nov 9 ordered the probe and sought its report within one month.

The commission had ordered that no permission for change of nature of plots would be granted by any authority nor would any construction be allowed to continue on the basis of the permission granted earlier in order to avoid multitude of proceedings except for sub judice cases and where interim order was in operation.

It also asked the committee to hear complainants, property owners or those who were raising construction as well as officials of the relevant departments before finalising its report. The committee was also told to fix responsibility besides determining legality or otherwise of the constructions.

SBCA DG Iftikhar Kaimkhani, Hyderabad Development Authority (HDA) director (planning and development control) Bashir Awan, municipal commissioner of the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (HMC) Nasrullah Abbasi, managing director of the Sindh Industrial Trading Estate (SITE) Athar Mirani, managing director of the Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) Agha Rahim and others appeared before the committee.

The officials who attended the meeting confirmed that HDA, SBCA, SITE and HMC representatives gave unsatisfactory replies to the questions raised by the committee.

They have been directed to submit specific details of commercialisation of plots, actual number of plots commercialised so far, current status etc within the next two days.

“The officers were not prepared to respond to the committee’s questions. HDA’s Bashir Awan sought time to provide the required details. Making a similar statement, the municipal commissioner stated that according to a provisional list of the HMC, in 124 cases plazas were approved sans its NoC (no objection certificate),” said an official.

HDA and HMC officials were required to explain how could land’s use be changed and under what authority or regulations. Official sources told Dawn that SBCA, SITE and HMC officers were asked to give details whether commercialisation was in line with the by-laws and whether procedure required for allowing commercialisation was indeed followed in the prescribed manner.

A handout issued on Sunday said that the LG secretary asked Bashir Awan to explain as to who were the beneficiaries of the plots commercialised by the HDA. He said he needed two day’s time to submit his reply.

Commissioner Baloch asked him to come prepared at the next meeting as it involved question of the city’s development.

Sources said that the SITE MD did not share details about status of those industrial plots whose commercialisation was allowed by the SITE board of directors. He has also been asked to provide the board’s terms of reference.

“He informed the committee that such and such number of plots’ conversion was allowed by the board but didn’t disclose the kind of construction raised on the plots,” said a source.

Green belts used

The judicial commission had received various complaints regarding conversion of plots and permission for commercial activity on those plots. Conversion of a large number of plots was allowed by HMC’s land department from time to time. With HMC’s approval, even green belts were used for commercial activity.

There are cases in which pieces of land up to 200 square yads were even leased out to different applicants and then construction of commercial nature was allowed on them. This activity is seen in different streets of Latifabad and along Autobhan Road where one could find old property line — demarcated by the department in the past — at a great distance from present Autobhan Road.

Commission’s order violated

The commission’s directive staying commercial activity was not fully complied with as SBCA officers ‘selectively’ allowed this on Autobhan Road and in SITE. There are projects where construction was and is continuing until recently as SBCA officials look the other way.

SBCA regional director has issued a circular staying all constructions in line with the judicial commission’s directive but compliance is not seen.

Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2018