GUJRANWALA – Illegal real estate business abounds in 42 unauthorised housing colonies in the city owing to corruption in Gujranwala Development Authority (GDA). Reportedly, the GDA had already declared 42 out of 54 housing colonies in the city illegal as none of these societies either got prior approval or were completed according to the laws of the authority. Despite declaring these colonies illegal, the GDA officers allegedly supported them after accepting heavy bribes and issued no-objection certificates (NOCs) to them for the supply of Sui gas, electricity and other civic facilities.
The district coordination officer (DCO) has asked for a detailed report on the colonies where development work as well as sale or purchase of land has not been done so far. NADRA’s only office in Gujranwala irks applicants: The only office of National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) in Gujranwala has irked the applicants who have to stand in long queues for hours.
Reportedly, NADRA has only one office in the city of two million people and that too is facing the shortage of staff. Another office which was functioning at Trust Plaza was closed a couple of years ago owing to the rent problem. The residents of the four towns of Gujranwala have been demanding separate NADRA offices in each town but the federal government has done nothing so far in this regard.
NADRA’s only office is situated at the first floor of the municipal complex and senior citizens, especially women and handicapped people, find it difficult to go upstairs. The applicants have to wait for 10 to 12 hours for their turn and, to avoid this, a large number of poor applicants come there to stand in queue before the sunrise.
NADRA has neither arranged drinking water nor any lavatory for the applicants who have to face a great inconvenience, especially patients, suffer the most for lack of such civic facilities.
A large number of people have to return home without being accommodated for lack of time despite double shift while scuffles with guards and inappropriate behavior, mainly due to overburden as well as lack of dedication, have become a routine matter in and outside the office. The education department has made registration forms compulsory for admissions in schools as well as for examinations at primary, elementary and secondary levels and a lot of work is lying pending at this single office but no special arrangements have been made to tackle this situation.
NADRA has one mobile van in the whole district which is mostly used for political purposes and partially facilitates the masses.
Gujranwala city has three representatives in the National Assembly and they had promised to the masses for more NADRA offices, but the promises have not been met so far. 2 COPS GET LIFE IMPRISONMENT: Additional District and Sessions Judge Asad Ali has awarded two police constables with life imprisonment for killing an innocent citizen and posing it as a police encounter.
Both the convicts will have to pay Rs 200,000 each as penalty. Reportedly, police constables Zeeshan, Luqman, Muhammad Shahid and Shahid Anjum shot dead a car rider Muhammad Asif who did not stop at a barrier on GT Road near Shaheenabad. The cops killed Muhammad Asif instantly, later declared him a robber and fabricated a story that the deceased attacked the police party and, in self defense, the police killed him.The judicial process reversed all the claims of the police and the ADSJ announced life imprisonment and penalty for Zeeshan and Luqman.
