HYDERABAD: A two-member inquiry committee looking into change of status of industrial and residential plots held its procee­dings here on Friday and asked officers of all civic agencies of Hyderabad to submit their answers to an 11-point questionnaire sent to them.

The proceedings set off a debate on land conversion authority as officers of the Hyderabad Develop­ment Authority (HDA) and Hyder­abad Municipal Corporation (HMC) as well as those of the Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) explained their respective positions before the committee, set up on an order of the one-man judicial commission headed by retired Justice Amir Hani Muslim. The commission has been appointed by the Supreme Court.

The officers who appeared before the committee claimed that the HMC and HDA’s planning and development control department had been allowing commerciali­sation of residential spaces.

The inquiry committee comp­rises Hyderabad Commissio­ner Mohammad Abbas Baloch and Sindh Local Government Secre­tary Khalid Hyder Shah.

The commissioner was taken aback when Sindh Building Con­trol Authority (SBCA) regional director Naveed Asim claimed that the revenue department’s city survey (CS) section had been allowing commercialisation. He said that plot No. 355 was converted by the HMC and cited a document issued by a mukhtiarkar with a CS number.

“How can the SBCA accept such a document issued by a grade-16 officer?” he argued.

The commissioner declared that no such document would be accepted by the SBCA in future to allow any commercial activity without verifying it from the deputy commissioner.

He asked SBCA officer to submit a list of those converted plots which were allowed by the CS section to him as it was unbelievable that some revenue official could do this.

The committee asked the SBCA regional director and other officers as to which authority’s permission was, in the eyes of the SBCA, valid for conversion of plots. HDA director (P&DC) Bashir Awan replied that HDA had the exclusive right to allow conversion of plots but this authority was being used by the HMC.

In this regard, Mr Awan referred to the decision taken at the HDA governing body’s 111th meeting on Aug 10, 2009 whereby 15 roads with 60ft and above width were allowed for commercialisation.

Municipal Commissioner Nasr­ullah Abbasi said that under Rule 18 of the Local Council Property Rules of 1975, fee towards conver­sion could be recovered but conver­sion itself could only be allowed by council with permission of contro­lling authority ie Sindh govern­ment.

Representatives of the Association of Builders and Developers (Abad) Zulfiqar Faro­oqui and Kashif Shaikh criticised officers of HDA, HMC and Wasa for not defending themselves. “We have paid Rs1 billion over the last seven years to the SBCA, HMC, P&DC and Wasa under the conver­sion and betterment charges,” they said.

“SBCA recovers betterment charges of which 20pc is paid to Wasa and 25pc is kept by the SBCA. The SBCA can’t keep this amount as it has nothing to do with infrastructure betterment,” Kashif Shaikh argued.

He said that this provision had been invoked to change use of land by HMC over the years.

“Nobody knows where these millions have gone,” he said.

Farooqui blamed SBCA, HDA and Wasa officers for confusion. “Anxiety prevails among allottees since SBCA stayed 150 projects on commission’s orders,” he said.

Published in Dawn, December 1st, 2018