ISLAMABAD: Hundreds of illegal marriage halls have cropped up in Islamabad and its adjoining areas under the alleged patronage of government-appointed chairmen and councillors.
About 250 marriage halls have sprung up in the urban areas of the federal capital while 350 illegal marriage halls are currently functioning in its rural areas.
According to details, land mafia in connivance with authorities have captured several extremely expensive plots in the capital and earmarked them for marriage halls.
The Supreme Court (SC) has issued an order to immediately dismantle the illegal marriage halls and retrieve the misappropriated lands.
However, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) faced strong opposition from several social and political powers, including officials of CDA itself, when the body chalked out a programme for the implementation of court orders.
Sources claim that Islamabad Mayor and CDA Chairman Sheikh Ansar Aziz and Member Planning Asad Mahmood Kayani have disregarded the SC orders and encouraged land mafias to launch protests. On exposition of their involvement by the press, they decided to bulldoze mud houses instead of the encroaching marriage halls, the sources said.
Residents of these mud houses from Sector I-12 told media that they had constructed their houses with the approval of CDA, which in addition to providing them with no-objection certificates (NOC) had also provided them with civic amenities. They complained that the CDA were turning their guns on them now to keep from having to address the issue of several illegal marriage halls and commercial plazas constructed on other people’s properties worth billions of rupees.
Sources also revealed that owners of several marriage halls in the capital had strong patronage from members of the national assembly (MNAs) and ministers.
However, when questioned, Metropolitan chief Assad Mahmood Kayani said that there was no pressure from any political or military powers and that an operation would be carried out against the illegal marriage halls without fail. He said that a three-member team – comprising director enforcement, director land and director planning – has been constituted which would provide a detailed report on the issue within a month, based on which the operation would be launched. He said that before the operation is carried out, a final warning would be given to the land mafia involved.
