MUZAFFARGARH: More than 42 illegal housing colonies and 21 petrol pumps are functioning without No-Objection Certificates (NOC) and the administration has failed to take any action against them.

There were over three dozen illegal colonies in Muzaffargarh and Kot Addu tehsils that had no NOCs or permission letters and their owners were selling plots with the alleged connivance of revenue officials. Several affected families of Gulistan Colony in the city had approached the National Accountability Bureau’s Multan office and other agencies against this illegality, while the Muzaffargarh deputy commissioner had ordered the colony owners to refund the people they had sold plots to.

The owners of these housing colonies claimed that the administration was delaying holding of a District Planning and Design Committee meeting, and told this correspondent that they possessed relevant documents of the land as well as authority letters and approval from the environment department, but the district administration was not meeting them to discuss issuance of NOCs. They claimed that they went to the DC’s office several times, but were unable to meet him.

In the last three months, former Dera Ghazi Khan commissioner Naseem Sadiq planned to crack down on illegal housing colonies, but failed. Later, he resigned after he was named in the inquiry commission report probing shortage of flour.

On the other hand, there were several petrol pumps functioning without NOCs as well as oil agencies set up on roadsides. The assistant commissioners and civil defence officials were helpless against them as the agency owners were allegedly politically connected.

Deputy Commissioner Amjad Shoaib Tareen said he was looking into the matter and strict action would be taken against the owners of illegal housing colonies. He claimed that he had directed officials to stop the registry of plots and mauzas till NOCs were issued to them. However, the sale of plots continued despite these directions.

Kot Addu Municipal Committee Chief Officer Syed Saleem Iqbal Bukhari said his team had stopped construction of many colonies till issuance of an NOC to them.

A petrol pump owner claimed that if a meeting was held in time, the administration could earn huge revenue and use it for developments schemes.

Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2020