LAHORE, May 15: Influential people have illegally developed 102 housing schemes in the city allegedly in connivance with officials/departments of the City District Government of Lahore and the Lahore Development Authority.

Though CDGL and LDA have notified 102 illegal housing schemes in the provincial capital, officials concerned are unable to explain that why they did not take action against developers of these schemes on time. Some of these schemes were developed 10 to 30 years ago.

The 52 schemes declared illegal by the LDA through a press release on Tuesday are Al-Rahim Gardens, Ashrafi Town, Bahria Town Phase-II, Barkat Town, Brunai Town, Chirag Gardens, Dream Gardens, Farid Town, Farid Town, Fateh Villas, Firdous Colony, Gangwa Town, Grand Avenue Housing Scheme, Greater Town, Green Cap Housing Scheme, Gulberg Park, Hafiz Town, Ideal Garden Housing Scheme, Jamia Muhammadabad Society, Jannat Colony, Jannat Gardens, Khayaban-e-Iqbal, Lahore Parkview, Libya Town, Malik Park, Muqaddas Colony, Sheikh Abdullah Town, Sheikh Saleem Town, Shafiq Khokar Town, Vital Homes Housing Scheme, Wapda Farmhouse Town Phase-I & II, Wapda Finance Farm Houses, Wapda Finance Officers Housing Society, Subhan Gardens, Anwar Town, Roshan Town, Faisal Town, Walk Land, Akhtarabad Housing Scheme, Johar Villas, Islam Park, Rehman Park, Ali Homes, Hajveri Town, Madina Town, Sher Shah Colony, Shalimar Town, Mehboob Garden, Tayyab Town, Sheraz Town, Koh-e-Noor Housing Scheme and Al-Hijaz Cooperative Housing Society.

Similarly, the CDGL declared 50 residential schemes illegal through an advertisement on Monday.

Chief of LDA’s Metropolitan Wing Waseem Ahmad Khan admitted that officials did not take action against developers of such schemes on time and that he could not explain what his predecessors or others did. He said the law (section 33 of the LDA Act) was too weak to punish such developers.

“Punishment of fine or six month imprisonment or both is mentioned in the law for developers of illegal schemes,” he said and suggested amendments to the law to punish such developers. He said LDA or any other agency could only issue notices about illegal residential schemes to warn people against sale and purchase in these schemes.

Bahria Town marketing manager Nida Zahoor rejected LDA’s claim on Bahria Town. “Ours is the leading housing project in Lahore and it was launched after fulfilling legal requirements. We launched the town in question after getting approval from the Allama Iqbal Town administration under the Local Government Ordinance 2001,” she said.

When asked that why LDA declared Bahria Town Phase-II illegal when its administration had completed the legal procedure, she said she didn’t know about LDA’s powers/authority. “I just know that we have launched this project legally and not illegally,” she added.