ISLAMABAD: At long last the Capital Development Authority (CDA) has started enforcing its laws on the powerful and the influential of the city.

It sealed five houses on Monday where businesses were being run in violation of its bylaws that forbid ‘non-conforming use’ of residential buildings in the city.

A CDA statement said its Enforcement and Building Control Directorate carried out the operation under the watch of a magistrate and a contingent of local police.

Offices, restaurants, hospitals, showrooms, art galleries, embassies and educational institutes have been running in some 2,000 houses across the city for years, but the CDA always hesitated moving against them because either the owner of the house or the business wielded the support of political or influential quarters.

“After all big money and big names were involved,” explained a CDA official requesting anonymity.

“It meant high rent for the owner of the house and high-end clientele for the businesses.”

Even when the civic body tried to move against the non-conforming use of residential buildings under the pressure of public-interest litigations, its hands were stayed by political overlords or the restraining order from a court.

A recent Supreme Court order, however, gave the CDA the spine to go after them on Monday. Even then, it had to de-seal House No. 39 on Bhittai Road in F-7 sector because a court ‘stay order’ arrived after its staff had sealed the house for running the beauty salon, Beauty Hut.

Four other houses remained sealed though. They were House 1, Street 27 in F-6/2 and House 39 on College Road, being used as showrooms by Afghan Carpet; House 3 on School Road in F-6/1 with LABELS showroom and House 34 also on School Road where restaurant Luna Caprice ran.

Meanwhile, CDA Member Administration and Estate Amer Ali Ahmed has directed his staff to seek early vacation of the restraining orders issued by courts in cases regarding non-conforming use of properties.

CDA spokesperson Ramzan Sajid told Dawn that as many as 700 owners of houses have gone to courts to stop any action against them for non-conforming use of their property.

“We are meanwhile writing to Iesco to disconnect electricity supply to such houses. A cell has also been established in CDA for citizens to report non-conforming use of houses,” he added.

Published in Dawn, May 12th, 2015

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