LAHORE, March 5: The construction of a multi-storey structure is going on at the Governor Area Housing Scheme near Bagh-i-Jinnah in violation of a court order. Residents of the area told this reporter the construction work on the plaza at a 32-marla plot at 31 Mason Road was started around a year ago by one Malik Iqbal. When the Data Gunj Baksh Town administration initiated no action on the complaints lodged with it, the residents moved a court of law, which issued a stay order against the construction of a commercial building in a residential area, they said.

The builder submitted an undertaking with the court that he would immediately stop the construction work at the site. Later, he resumed the work in connivance with the building department officials of the town, the residents complained.

They said doctors Anwarul Haq and Ehtishamul Haq, on behalf of the area residents, moved the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Shahid Hussain Chaudhry, who again granted a stay against the construction at the site.

They said the Civil Lines SHO Intikhab Ali Shah expressed his inability to ensure compliance of the court orders when the residents approached him for the purpose. Afterwards, the builders started harassing the doctors and other residents. The SHO advised the residents not to waste their time by pursuing the case as the builders were influential enough to raise the structure, they alleged.

A visit to the site revealed the plaza was being raised without leaving any gap between the structure and the adjacent residences. According to the building bylaws of the Lahore Development Authority, a multi-storey structure should have at least 25 per cent of the total area for parking space.

A middle-aged man, who identified himself as Malik Nadeem, told this reporter at the site the stay granted by the additional district and sessions judge stood vacated on Feb 28. “We have got the site plan of the plaza approved from the Data Gunj Bakhsh Town administration, and under the new local body system the LDA now has nothing to do with such things.”

However, the town officials said the matter was beyond their jurisdiction. “We cannot initiate any action against the builder, as he has been constructing the plaza according to a site plan, approved by the LDA,” they said while refusing to comment whether or not the town had approved any such plan. —Staff Reporter