ISLAMABAD: Like more than 100 unauthorised housing schemes, Ghauri Town, spread over several phases, has left residents trapped for years in a dispute between the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and developers of the housing scheme.

According to the residents, original developers had either disappeared from the scene or were no longer available to get approval from the CDA, leaving ordinary homeowners to face the consequences.

As per Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi’s recent statement, there are around 199 illegal housing schemes, including 62 falling outside of Islamabad but using the name of the capital city. The minister said CDA teams were working on each of them.

“We will give these schemes the option of registration to come under regulations. We will bring them into our regulatory framework so they can fulfil deficiencies and remove illegalities. We will certainly take action and impose fines as well,” he said.

Civic agency always advises citizens not to invest in illegal schemes, says CDA officer

“After taking charge, I directed the CDA to take steps to stop unauthorised construction. We are monitoring construction through satellite,” Mr Naqvi said.

All these schemes were developed in Islamabad during the last two decades, but the CDA failed to check the construction and kept itself mostly restricted to “issuing notices of warning residents about illegal status of schemes” and sealing some offices of the administration of these societies.

In many cases, FIRs were also registered, but development work in the schemes continued. Resultantly, the developers, in many cases, after selling plots also sold out amenity lands and disappeared.

When contacted and asked about the issues faced by the residents of Ghauri Town and other such schemes, a CDA officer defended the authority’s position, stating the civic agency always advised citizens not to invest in illegal schemes.

Meanwhile, another official said the CDA should work out an amnesty for the residents to end their suffering. He said action should be taken against the original developers.

In a related development, the CDA a few days ago opened bids for hiring a consultant to propose a way forward and prepare a financial model for unauthorised housing schemes.

The residents of Ghauri Town said the CDA continued to list the town among illegal or unauthorised housing schemes. They said the authority’s position was that private housing schemes required approval of their layout plans and issuance of an NOC before development and sale of plots.

“Yet the settlement has long since grown into a densely populated urban locality, with thousands of houses, commercial areas, roads and utility networks. According to CDA, the society is unauthorised as it was developed without approval of the civic agency,” said the residents.

They added that in 2019, Ghauri Town residents protested outside CDA headquarters against restrictions on new utility connections. The issue of natural gas, in particular, has remained unresolved for years. The residents now point to an additional irony: gas infrastructure and pipelines are already present in parts of the locality, but new connections remain restricted.

Mohammad Zubair, a resident of Phase 4-A, said they were being made to suffer for a dispute in which they had no role.

“People living here are ordinary citizens who purchased plots and houses with their hard-earned money. They have registered documents and have been living here for years. If there is a legal dispute with the developers, the government should resolve it instead of punishing the residents,” he said.

Another resident, Zahid Ali Khan, said the absence of municipal services had turned everyday life into a constant struggle.

“We have roads, houses, markets and thousands of residents, but when it comes to public services, nobody accepts responsibility for us. Residents are paying from their own pockets for security, streetlights, sanitation and waste collection,” he said.

He said the condition of roads in several parts of Ghauri Town had deteriorated badly.

“Many roads are in a dilapidated condition. We have repeatedly asked the authorities to repair them, but the answer is always that Ghauri Town is illegal. If the government has a legal objection, it should be resolved. How long can the residents be left without basic civic facilities?” he asked.

Rana Abdul Qayyum, advocate of the high court and a longtime representative of Ghauri Town residents, said the issue had already reached courts.

“The residents are not asking the state to ignore the law. They are asking the state to apply the law fairly and resolve the legal status of the area. Thousands of families cannot be kept in limbo indefinitely because of a dispute between the authorities and the developers,” he said.

Published in Dawn, October 5th, 2026