RAWALPINDI: The Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation (RMC) has found shops in basements, originally allocated for parking, in 36 buildings of the city, according to a survey.

Illegal constructions in cantonment areas remain unchecked in the garrison city. Most buildings in Raja Bazaar, Satellite Town, Commercial Market, Murree Road, Liaquat Road, City Saddar Road, China Market and adjoining areas, right next to RMC offices, have been constructed without approval of the civic body as building by-laws have been violated.

Civic body officials of the building and regulation departments did not pay heed to several complaints by individuals and local residents about illegal construction.

In Satellite Town, Raja Bazaar and adjoining areas, it was found that people have constructed commercial plazas without allocating 25 feet of parking space and no fire safety measures have been taken.

Survey highlights illegal construction in cantonment remains unchecked

According to building by-laws, all commercial plaza owners should allocate basements of buildings for parking besides leaving 25 feet on the front side and basements for this purpose.

There is no single plaza in cantonment areas which has been allocated space for parking. As a result, visitors to the main commercial area especially in Raja Bazaar are facing problems in finding a space for parking.

Commissioner Rawalpindi Division Liaquat Ali Chatha has asked civic bodies in the garrison city to take action against those building owners who converted parking space in basements into shops.

He said that government institutions would not turn a blind eye on the delay of building plan approvals and they would facilitate people to fulfill legal requirements for approval of building plans.

He said that 36 such plazas have been identified in the city which showed basement parking in their maps but later built shops there.

The basements of three of these plazas have been emptied and regular parking has been started there.

He directed the environment department to take an undertaking from all building owners while issuing the no objection certificate (NOC) that it will be cancelled in case of any change in the map without permission.

He expressed these views while presiding over the Environment Committee meeting.Additional Commissioner (Coordination) Syed Nazarat Ali, Fatima Jinnah Women University (FJWU) dean of environment science, Dr Azra Rafiq, deputy director (environment) Mohammad Rafiq and other relevant officers participated in the meeting.

In this meeting of the Environment Approval Committee, a total of 27 cases were presented by the sub-committee, out of which 25 were approved while two were deferred due to various objections.

According to details, a total of 10 cases of petrol pumps were presented on this occasion, of which seven were from Rawalpindi district and three from Jhelum district.

Commissioner Rawalpindi raised objection in two cases and deferred them while giving approval to 11 cases. He said that the response to the objections raised by the committee on the remaining cases should be presented in the next meeting so that after removing all objections, progress could be made.

Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2023