I AM a resident of a housing society that was launched and is being managed by one of the leading ‘corporate educational’ groups. The society is situated at 12.5km on Raiwind Road, Lahore. The society was established around 18-19 years ago with tall claims and promises of amenities, such as round-the-clock electricity, a community centre for the residents, a commercial centre, a first aid dispensary, a shuttle pick-and-drop service, etc.

We, the members of the Residents’ Forum, have many times approached the management and asked the scheme administrators to fulfil the promises they had made with the purchasers of the plots of land.

All our efforts have gone in vain as not even one of the above promises has been fulfilled even after a lapse of almost two decades.

The current situation is that the sewerage system is incomplete and the sewerage is being pumped out on to the open fields near the Beaconhouse National University, which often spreads a pungent odour across the housing society and its adjoining areas. Is this conduct morally correct or ethical on the part of such a renowned ‘educational group’?

Why has it failed to link the sewerage system of society with the main sewerage line? The main boulevard of the housing scheme is also incomplete and, despite numerous promises, the management has failed to complete the road.

Instead of fulfilling their earlier promises, they have launched a new apartment scheme and have lured potential buyers by showing them the same attractive pictures of ‘luxurious lifestyle’ in their advertisement as were once shown to us as the bait.

The management is also illegally using society’s premises and resources for a separate scheme that has nothing to do with the existing housing scheme.

In its advertisement campaign, the management is illegally telling the potential buyers that the apartments are located within the gated community of the existing housing society, although the new project is a separate entity and the management has given us, the residents, a written undertaking that the apartments will be given a separate entry/exit point.

The management of the housing scheme should look into the serious concerns of the residents at the earliest by completing the main boulevard, linking the sewerage with the main line, and ensuring the provision of all the amenities that were once promised but never delivered.

Jafar Ali
Lahore

Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2021