Illegal car parking on the green belts of Islamabad highway is causing loss to Capital Development Authority (CDA). Paradise hotels and other hotels along the Khanna Bridge are involved in the practice.
Influential people and businessmen have made massive encroachments on the CDA-owned land and the civic management has failed to take any action against the violators.
The route which has become the hub of encroachments by the influential is used by important government and international dignitaries and these encroachments therefore pose a security threat.
According to the documents available with Pakistan Today, the director environment had written a letter to vigilance wing of enforcement directorate saying that powers of removal of encroachments from government land and matter related to unauthorised construction on private land have been decided under section 49B, 49C, 49D and 49Eof CDA ordinance, 1960, martial law regulations 63, and 83 as well as cabinet decision 2005 of federal government.
“There are a lot of illegal parking areas, like CDA’s illegally occupied land by the renowned shopping mall Centaurus, which illegally occupied land and turned it into a parking area – Ufone did the same. Illegal parking area in sector G-8 is encroached upon by car showroom mafia, same is seen in sector G-9, F-7, F-8 and F-10,” claimed an official of enforcement directorate, who requested anonymity.
Since the Capital Development Authority (CDA) got administrative powers and authority to care, plan and develop federal capital, the authority has failed to maintain its writ over the capital. Among the influential people who enjoyed the power, many are presently in the government who are asleep while encroachers expand their empire, a resident of sector G-10, Ali Imtiaz, told Pakistan Today.
When contacted, CDA Director for Public Relations Mazhar Hussain said that there were encroachment mafias in the federal capital, adding that the enforcement directorate and CDA did many operations against them, but they kept coming back.
The enforcement directorate demolishes encroachments on a daily basis, he said, and added that if anyone has encroached CDA’s land near Khanna Bridge, then it will also be vacated soon.