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65 house owners yet to pay CDA Rs 32.5 million fine

* Owners fined for commercial use of residential property

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: Capital Development Authority (CDA) has failed to recover Rs 32.5 million worth of fine from 65 city residents on account of using their houses for commercial purposes even more than two months after the passage of deadline.

The CDA deputy commissioner had imposed Rs 500,000 fine each on owners of 65 houses for non-conforming use of their houses in October 2007 and sent CDA Estate Management directorate their cases for fine recovery.

The guilty house owners were then given 20 days to deposit the fine but not a single of them has yet paid the said amount, exposing the CDA inefficiency.

An official told Daily Times that 795 houses were used in the capital’s residential areas for commercial purposes. He said of such housing units, 325 put up offices of different organisations, 225 schools and 124 beauty parlours and clinics, 87 guesthouses and four restaurants.

The CDA had banned the non-conforming use of houses in residential sectors and could fine owners involved in commercial activity on their premises under Islamabad Residential Sectors Zoning Regulation 2005. It could also cancel the allotment of plot within three month of a warning.

An official said that the CDA’s negligence was causing the number of housing units used for commercial purposes to grow in Islamabad. He said that people rent out their houses to commercial organisations for high rent.

CDA Director (Estate Management-I) Tariq Mehmood Khan said that his department had issued noticed to violators of CDA bylaws and would proceed against them shortly.

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