FAISALABAD, April 16: The Tehsil Municipal Administration (city) on Wednesday sealed a dozen shops in different parts of the city describing them as illegal constructions.

The TMA teams headed by senior officers raided a number of shops, shopping plazas and industrial units in Kutchery Bazaar, Sargodha Road, Samundri Road and Malkhanwala for checking the building plans and maps.

The raiding teams sealed three shops on Samundri Road, six on Sargodha Road and four in Malkhanwala area claiming that these buildings had been constructed without getting proper approval from the TMA and without passing building plans from authority concerned.

A building owner on the condition of anonymity told Dawn that there was no justification to seal any shop. He said a procedure had been laid down in TMA rules for taking legal action against persons if they found involved in constructing or building structure without the approval of the TMA.

TMA bosses had taken this unlawful step just to please the building branch contractor so that he could get maximum fee on account of map approval, building plans and NoCs, he claimed.

As per TMA sources, it was for the first time in the city history that buildings had been sealed due to failure of owners in getting approved building plans from the agency concerned. No formal notice was issued to building owners before taking direct action against them, they said.

Sources further revealed that over 50 per cent buildings in municipal limits had been constructed without fulfilling the code of laws as well as getting approval of building plans.

A good number of multi-storey commercial plazas in congested and popular areas have also been built in violation of prescribed rules and regulations, but the TMA is playing the role of a silent spectator.

The high-rise buildings constructed in contravention of the original design and prescribed rules in eight bazaars and elsewhere have distorted the city beauty. Over and above, these buildings have overshadowed the famous Clock Tower due to the negligence of TMA authorities.

The step to seal some shops in non-congested areas is not only a fraud with the people as well as persons concerned but also a stigma on the face of city fathers.