LAHORE: Punjab Senior Minister Mian Aslam Iqbal announced on Sunday that strict action will be taken against illegal housing societies across the province to curb powerful land mafia.

“The land grabbing mafia has become so strong and the law enforcement agencies seem helpless in front of them,” he told reporters at a press conference here on Sunday.

“The poor sell everything they have to buy a plot in these illegal societies. But, later they find out that they have been deceived. Therefore, it has been decided that strict action will be taken against illegal housing societies throughout Punjab,” he added.

Criticising Aleem Khan, a PTI rebel, who also owns a housing scheme in Lahore, Iqbal said he (Aleem) was now in league with the federal government. “The nation knows for whom you are working,” he said, referring to Aleem Khan.

Accuses Aleem Khan of committing ‘land fraud’

Explaining the background of the government’s action against Aleem’s housing scheme, he said the owner of the illegal housing society submitted an application in 2012 for expansion of River Edge Housing Scheme, but it was rejected by the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) as it was agricultural land. Housing secretary also dismissed the appeal as it was a green area, as per Master Plan 2004, where no building was constructed.

“Then they [society’s management] went to court and got a stay order and continued to carry out development work in this illegal residential scheme. LDA sent them 17 notices from 2010 to 2022, but they did not stop development work. The accused committed a fraud of Rs50 billion with the poor people and five cases were registered against him,” he alleged.

The minister said the LDA had made it clear several times that constructions could only be carried out on 765 kanals in the said housing scheme. And whenever the institutions took action against illegal constructions, they were threatened with violence, he added. Four days ago, when 55 kanals of government land was retrieved, the relevant revenue officer, police and Ruda employees were physically tortured, he said. “This is the mafia that built people’s houses in the river belt and even government’s land was sold,” he alleged.

Published in Dawn, October 3rd, 2022