HYDERABAD, Dec 13: The district council through a unanimously passed resolution on Thursday called for putting a stop to unbridled construction of commercial plazas, which continued unabated in the residential areas of the city.

Dr. Arif Razmi, council member, tabled the resolution, which further demanded that the Town Planning Department and the Hyderabad Development Authority should submit record of the plazas that were being built or had been built illegally.

He said that the ill-planned growth of buildings was mounting pressure on utility services and hampering future planning. If construction continued in such a haphazard manner the city would one day become unfit to live, he cautioned.

Almost all the members supported Dr Ramzi and stressed the need for proper planning to tackle the civic issues, which also included encroachment along roads.

Q. Mohammad Hakim suggested that a committee should be formed, which should send its recommendations to the provincial government requesting it to amend building laws.

The provincial and district governments should launch housing schemes, which offer plots on condition that they could not be sold until a decade, he said.

He strongly supported zoning systems for high-rise buildings and said that the ill-planned growth of plazas was leading to utility, law and order and traffic problems.

Yamin Soomro said that it was no problem for builders to get the HDA issue NoCs despite the fact that district nazim himself was at the helm of affairs in the HDA’s governing body.

Hussain Bux Hussaini proposed that either district or provincial government should acquire land on the outskirts of the city and use it to expand urban settlements by introducing housing schemes.

Nasir Baloch accused the authority and its Building Control Department (BCD) of promoting encroachments and said the departments were responsible for defacing the city. “The BCD and the HDA first create encroachments and then ask TMAs to remove them,” he said.

He called for an end to issuance of NoCs for plazas and said that many plazas had been built after encroaching upon the space reserved for streets while the remaining space had been used for car parking.

Mehboob Abro came down hard on HDA and builders but at the same time appreciated district nazim for getting the builders ensure parking space in plazas.

Rashid Khan said that the Town Planning Department and the HDA should be asked to submit details of all the schemes built or being illegally and stressed joint efforts to solve the problem, which had become a perennial source of trouble for people.

“The conversion of residential areas into commercial should be strictly banned and the project for a plaza should be presented before the council in the presence of concerned nazim before its approval,” he said.

He criticised works and services committee for its failure to submit a report on the issue. The committee’s chairman defended himself saying the builders were making up for violations pointed out by the committee.

He claimed that the builder mafia had run away to other cities and disputed some members’ claim about continued illegal construction in the city. His claim was dismissed by Dr. Arif Razmi who pointed out areas in 7-C and 7-D of Latifabad where illegal construction was going on.

Hussain Bux Hussaini’s resolution on monitoring of the outlets of Utility Stores Corporations was deferred for debate to Saturday. He suggested that the USCs should be given under the monitoring of UCs as it was widely believed that they were selling goods to retailers while people were kept waiting in long queues.