Officials said the practice was withdrawn in July last year, but it was being publicised now because certain developers were still trying to avail it.

LAHORE: The Punjab government has stopped acquiring land on government (concessional) rates for private housing schemes, correcting a wrong decision made in 2005.

The decision to stop the practice was taken in July last year by amending The Punjab Private Housing Schemes and Land Sub Division Rules 2010 through a gazette notification.

Officials said on Thursday the decision to acquire land for a private housing scheme not exceeding 10 per cent of its total declared area was taken through the Punjab Private Sites Development Rules, 2005. It was carried over in the Punjab Private Housing Schemes and Land Sub Division Rules 2010.

Officials said the favour was withdrawn in July last year, but it was being publicised now because certain developers were still trying to avail it.

The facility or favour was introduced to help developers get adjacent land required for important facilities like roads or disposal stations if they were unable to buy it from the owners. But, officials said, certain developers were misusing the facility by showing much more land than they actually possessed so as to increase the volume of the 10 per cent acquired land, making billions of rupees in the process.

The facility was an injustice to the owners of the acquired land, as it disallowed them to sell their land at market rate and at will.

According to the amendment, no developer will be allowed to acquire private land falling in his housing scheme on government rate. Private developer of a housing scheme will have to submit documents like registry, Intiqal, Fard, Khasra plan or Aks-i-Shajra certified by a tehsildar (revenue), non encumbrance certificate from the revenue authority, location plan signed by a town planner, topographic survey extended to the depth of 1,000 feet around the scheme area, layout plan, superimposed on Khasra plan with proposed division of scheme into residential and commercial plots, road network, open spaces, graveyard and public buildings, prepared and signed by a town planner.

The town and tehsil municipal administrations or development authority concerned shall entertain an application from a private developer along with these documents while giving him approval of the scheme. —Staff Reporter