MURREE, April 27: Like other parts of the province, the Town Municipal Officer (TMO) has sealed the record of the Town Municipal Administration (TMA) Murree on the orders of the Punjab government.

The move came as the provincial authorities have decided to investigate the alleged corruption in the local government all over the country.

A large number of complaints against the local government functionaries have reportedly been received from various segments of the society.

People said Murree witnessed worst kind of illegal construction that was under take with the connivance of the TMA staff.

The whole town has been developed in a haphazard fashion mostly during the tenure of the present and the previous local governments.

Similarly, many people have levelled serious allegations of corruption against the TMA for its alleged involvement in the development of illegal housing societies, allocation of contracts to favourites on political and personal preferences, large scale misuse of public funds, substandard construction of roads, etc.

The TMA is the final authority to approve the drawing/maps of the buildings and without its approval no structure could be constructed.

It is pertinent to mention here that according to the by- laws approved by the Punjab government, only ground plus two storied building can be constructed in Murree and the roof must be of galvanised steel sheets, but hundreds of multi-storied buildings, including some 12-storey structures, have been constructed during the previous government of PML-Q.

Locals staged several protest rallies across the town, including marches on the Mall Road, but the TMA paid no heed to their complaints.

After the collapse of an eight-storied building near Kashmir Point in September 2006, in which three persons including the building owner were killed, the then chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry took suo motu action and issued notices to Murree’s nazim and the Rawalpindi district government.

Murree Town Nazim Sardar Saleem Khan appeared before the Supreme Court, and presented a list of more than 160 buildings that were declared illegal or dangerous. Notices were also issued by the TMA to the owners of the buildings, some of which were sealed.

The SC also ordered the TMA to demolish those buildings which were constructed in violation of the Punjab government’s by-laws.

The TMA launched a halfhearted operation in which no considerable portion of any building was demolished.

As time progressed, the drive lost its momentum and the sealed building were also reopened.