LAHORE: The Walled City of Lahore Authority (WCLA) has become helpless against illegally constructed buildings in the old city area due to non-cooperation of the police department despite court orders, Pakistan Today learned on Sunday.
According to WCLA building by-laws, no one could construct or modify any building without taking a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the authority, but it was seen that many illegal constructions have been undertaken in different areas of the walled city. Besides, work on a number of residential and multi-storey commercial buildings was progressing at a fast pace.
The Lahore High Court (LHC) in its verdict on January 22, 2016, had directed the Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) to render full assistance to WCLA whenever needed.
Sources inside WCLA informed Pakistan Today that the authority had failed badly in accomplishing its goals as the local police were reluctant to provide support to the authority in connection with the demolition of illegal buildings in the area.
They said that there were several buildings in the walled city that have been constructed in violation of the building by-laws. Among them, around 11 buildings were to be demolished in the first phase of the operation. “The local police were reluctant because many buildings were constructed with the support of police officials due to which personnel from the force did not cooperate with us,” they alleged.
They further informed that since the authority was established, it could not get the support of a magistrate and a special police force to enforce the building by-laws. “Hundreds of Istighasas have been pending due to the unavailability of a special magistrate. The Punjab government has given approval for appointing a special magistrate, but despite requesting time and again, no appointment has been made yet,” they said, adding that this delay in appointing the magistrate was hampering the efficiency of the authority and causing hurdles in achieving its goals.
WCLA Conservation Director Najam-us-Saqib confirmed that police were reluctant to support WCLA against the violators. He alleged that despite requesting and holding three meetings with deputy superintendent of police (DSPs) of three circles and station house officers (SHOs) of the local police stations, the force still avoided accompanying the WCLA enforcement team to demolition sites. On a question, he said that WCLA rules allowed the demolition of any building that was constructed illegally in the old city area.
“After a continuous struggle on our part, the police agreed to be present on February 24, 2018, but when the time came, they refused to accompany us by making lame excuses. The police again agreed to accompany the authority’s team on March 1, but they did not cooperate yet again and refused to provide security to our workers,” Najam said.
“WCLA cannot take any action against the violators on its own,” he said while giving the example of Lahore Development Authority (LDA) and Punjab Food Authority (PFA) teams which were always accompanied by police personnel on raids. Najam said it would be very hard for WCLA to achieve its goals in the presence of such barriers.
When contacted, Civil Lines Superintendent of Police (SP) Ali Raza told Pakistan Today that police were always ready to provide support to WCLA. He rejected the allegations that the force was reluctant to accompany WCLA enforcement team during any action. “Police would provide assistance to WCLA team whenever they need it,” he assured.
