Investment In Illegal Housing Societies Cases, RDA Issues Warnings To People

Rawalpindi: Chairman, Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) Tariq Mehmood Murtaza on Friday asked the masses not to invest in unauthorized housing schemes and that before going for any decision regarding the sale purchase in the societies the citizens must check their status from the Metropolitan Planning and Traffic Engineering(MP&TE) or visit the RDA Website WWW check the status of the housing societies from the Metropolitan Planning and Traffic Engineering (MP&TE) Directorate, or by visiting the RDA Website rda.org.pk. On the other hand Board Of Investment (BOI) urges people to explore the Housing Sector Of Pakistan for investment. But BOI literally means the investment in legal Housing Societies.

Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) has taken several measures under the leadership of the current chairman to minimize illegal activities in Housing Societies and construction and commercial activities in the city. Where the authority has been taking strict action against encroachments, illegal and unlawful activities in the city, at the same time the RDA has worked hard to promote construction and development activities in Rawalpindi as in line with the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan. Under the new policy introduced by the RDA to promote construction and development, the building plans are being approved within 30 days, approval of change of land use in 45 days, and the approval of a housing society in 75 days. The measures taken by the current administration not only helped in bringing things in order but also collected millions of rupees in the form of revenues which rarely happened in the past.

In the recent past, the RDA has taken stern actions against some of the illegal and Unauthorized Housing Societies and illegal commercial activities in the city. Over the past few months, the staff of MP&TE along with the Elite Force has carried out operations against the Illegal Housing Societies in the surroundings of the city especially the ones near the New Islamabad International Airport. These illegal societies include Khanyal Homes and Green Oaks Farmhouse were sealed offices of and offices of more than a hundred housing schemes while the main gate and boundary walls of around 70 different housing schemes were demolished. The authority has been conducting regular operations against rules violators that include plazas, shops, schools, and other illegal land use and encroachments.

The RDA in the recent past has also collected a handsome revenue in the form of commercialization fees, heavy fines were imposed on the violators. It has also been reported that  during last financial year thousands of  maps of residential and multi-story buildings were approved which was not only a record but it also helped in generating a heavy amount of which amounted to Rs 559 million that is almost twice of the expected annual revenue