 
In the last board meeting of this year, the board members of Capital Development Authority (CDA) on Friday have decided to enhance the Floor Area Ratio (FAR) charges from 10 percent to 50 percent per square yard for every building in the capital.
In other words, the CDA is all set to regularise all disputed, unauthorised and illegally constructed floors of buildings and allow violator’s to go scot free.
In order to accommodate the owners of unauthorised high-rise buildings, the CDA decided to put 500 percent increase in ‘enhance FAR’ and put minor penalty, so, the buildings can be regularised.
It is pertinent to mention here that most of the commercial, residential buildings constructed or covered the open space area or circulation area which is illegal and against the CDA building by-laws.
When the private owners are carrying on construction, that time CDA was taking naps and just strict with issuing the notices to the violators instead of taking action against them.
“Through this act of the CDA, it seems like the big-bosses of the civic management want to accommodate the traders and business community through any means and regulate all disputed and unauthorised buildings, storeys,” said an official of planning wing on anonymity.
In January 2012, the CDA board also floated a decision regarding the enhancement of FAR charges to 956/sq for Marakiz and 361 for Industry and Trade Centres having ground plus one building plan.
Then CDA board also permitted the additional storeys by paying enhance FAR charges to 9 storeys instead of putting restrictions with only 5 storeys.
However, in practice, the planning wing and building control section permitted the additional storyes to various buildings in INT and Mauve area. Anyhow, after this, then Member Planning, Waseem Ahmed Khan, took charge and directed the subordinates to halt this action and strictly directed them to strict with the genuine building plan and FAR which was permitted at the time of allotment.
The board decided on Friday to allot a plot of 6 kanal to the office of Attorney General of Pakistan at the back side of the National Library.
The board members, however, deferred the appointment-amendment in CDA employee’s service regulations, request for approval of building plan of plot 396, I-8/2 and agenda about the change in recruitment criteria for the post of Director General Law, a BPS-20 post.
In the board meeting, the members had decided to enhance stipend for under training postgraduate residents and house officers which would be implemented by January 1, 2017.
This policy of enhancing FAR is for those who covered 100 area with construction instead of covering 60-70 percent which was approved by the authority.
Sources close to the development claimed that CDA’s chairman promised the chamber of commerce to regularise the unauthorised buildings, and he did so.
