LAHORE: The Anti-Corruption Establishment has arrested three senior officers and a clerk of the Lahore development Authority (LDA) on the charge of corruption.

These officers allegedly took a bribe of Rs 3 million from a citizen for the issuance of a completion certificate illegally, says an official handout.

The ACE investigated the matter once the case was referred to it and arrested Director Town Planning, Wing II, Salman Mahfouz, Deputy Director Tayyab Ali, Assistant Director Inayatullah and clerk Ijaz Sattar for they were found guilty.

The accused took a bribe of Rs 3million to approve the plan and caused a loss of around Rs 86 million to the national exchequer.

Accused caused a loss of Rs86m to exchequer

Clerk Ijaz Sattar admitted receiving the bribe of Rs 3 million and delivering it to the accused officers.

“The accused officers removed the original file from the record to hide their crime but the ATC team managed to get data from the office computer,” says the handout.

OPERATIONS: The LDA (Town Planning Zone 3) conducted operations against illegal constructions on the Zafar Ali Road and Main Boulevard, Gulberg

Several properties were sealed and demolished over different violations.

The LDA also demolished illegal constructions on Plot No 163 P-Block, Plot No 5 on Zafar Ali Road and Plot No 24 in K-Block. The properties on Plot No 1 B, Plot No 4 C 1 and Plot No 3 C located on the Zafar Ali road were sealed. The buildings on Plot No 9 D-1, Plot No 95, Plot No D-1 86 in K-Block, Gulberg were also sealed.

Various known brands including the Second Cup Cafe, Third Culture Coffee, private banks and coffee shops situated along Main Boulevard were also sealed. Unapproved constructions were removed from Daewoo Bus Stand on Ferozepur Road. The operation was supervised by Director Town Planning Sadra Tabassum.

LWMC: The Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) has deployed a number of workers at 528 domestic drains of 398km length across the city.

Besides, massive awareness campaign around drains has also been launched to educate people to avoid throwing polythene bags and solid waste in drains.

Published in Dawn, July 8th, 2023