PESHAWAR, Jan 29: The City Development and Municipal Department (CDMD) sold land measuring 116 kanals to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) much below the market rate in the posh Hayatabad area, sources said on Sunday.

The sources said the land was originally earmarked for constructing a colony for CDMD employees.

Officials said that the CDMD, supposed to carry out development schemes and planning in the provincial capital, had struck the ‘deal’ with the NAB without prior approval from the city district government or its council.

Former city district Nazim Azam Afridi and his successor Haji Ghulam Ali, said they were unaware about the deal.

“I never heard about any deal between the CDMD and NAB,” said Haji Ghulam Ali, the incumbent district Nazim.

The sources said that under Section 121 of the NWFP Local Government Ordinance, all immovable properties vested in the city district government after the promulgation of the ordinance in 2001.

They said that even immovable properties could not be sold out or permanently alienated and the CDMD was not authorised to enter into such deal without the approval of the district government and the district council.

Official documents showed that the defunct Peshawar Development Authority (PDA) had reserved 77 five-marla plots, 102 plots of 10-marla, 24 plots of one-kanal and five plots of two-kanal size for its employees in phase-V of Hayatabad.

In this connection CDMD had also issued a letter on July 6, 2005, which confirmed the reservation of plots for its employees in the posh locality.

“The competent authority during the year 1986-87 had reserved plots for PDA’s officers, officials residential colony in phase- V, Hayatabad”, the letter said.

Former Nazim Azam Afridi said that he had earmarked these plots for building a colony for officers and low-paid employees of the CDMD after getting approval from the district council.

Sources said that the CDMD management had sold more than 300 plots of various size to the NAB at the rate of Rs435,000 per kanal. While the market rate for a plot of a similar size in Hayatabad was about Rs6 million, they said.

“The management had been under pressure to sell the land to the NAB,” another source said.

Office-bearers of the CDMD Employees Union also expressed resentment over the deal and said despite availability of land elsewhere in Hayatabad and the under-construction Regi Housing Scheme, the CDMD sold their property to the NAB.

Earlier, the CDMD on the recommendation of former Governor Lt-Gen (retd) Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah sold a multi-purposes three-storey building to NAB in the same locality at throwaway price. At that time, the district council had protested against the deal with the NAB and termed it illegal.

General Manager of the CDMD Tariq Mahmood said the department concerned had received a request from the NAB regarding provision of land in phase-V of Hayatabad where the bureau had its regional headquarters.

Mr Mahmood said that a total of 116 kanal of land had been provided to NAB for constructing residential quarters for its employees and the bureau had paid the amount.

“Nothing is wrong with the deal. The department (routinely) auctions its property in Hayatabad to generate money for the area’s maintenance,” he told Dawn.

He said that phase-V of the town served as an official enclave where land had been provided to several provincial and federal government departments for construction of offices and houses for its officers.

Mr Mahmood said that the matter had been pending since 2002 and the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) had also approved amount for the construction of houses for NAB employees.