Lahore Lord Mayor Colonel (retd) Mubashar has failed to curb illegal construction of buildings in the city despite having authority to do so. According to sources, buildings are being illicitly constructed in the Samnabad, Ravi Town, Iqbal Town, Data Ganj Baksh and Aziz Bhati Town areas of the city. Due to the embezzlement of the building inspectors, hundreds of millions of rupees that should have been added to the national exchequer with the construction of theses commercial buildings are now landing in the pockets of the corrupt officials.
In the list of areas where illegal construction work is being carried out the most, Samnabad Town, Gulberg and Data Town rank first, second and third, respectively. In these areas, basements of some of the buildings have stretched out to as far as traffic signals.
With the town administration indulged in the unlawful building, encroachment in Lahore has gone beyond any other city of the province. According to sources, people are being forced to bribe the officials to get their maps for the buildings officially approved while a lot many buildings are being constructed without getting prior approval for the maps.
It has come to the attention of this scribe that a clerk named Liaqat acts as a building inspector in Samnabad. Liaqat travels with five private individuals who keep hold of walkie-talkies and act as officials of the town administration. In the same way inspectors Ali Shahid, Tahir Hafeez and Irfan are involved in assisting illegal construction in the commercial areas of Liberty, Orega Centre, Makkah Colony and Kabootar Pura.
Building inspectors of the Shalimar Town area, Danish, Hafiz Naeem, Iftikhar and Rashid, are also involved in assisting construction of buildings without approval of maps, under TMO Malik Tariq.
Building inspectors of Aziz Bhatti Town, Waheed and Turab, Imran of Wahga Town and Arsalan, Salman and Azam of Data Ganj Baksh Town are also active in assisting illicit construction of buildings in the city.
It is important to note that many inquiries have been carried out in this regard but no one has never been arrested.
