Islamabad - As part of its stricter anti-encroachment policy, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) has decided that it will no more release the confiscated material to the owners, sources in the CDA told The Nation on Wednesday.
Rather, the confiscated material would be auctioned on quarterly basis as the authority has started formulating Draft Islamabad Enforcement Regulations 2014 which aims at totally eliminating the trend of encroachment in the federal capital.
Contrary to the past practice, the authority has banned release of the confiscated material forthwith. “It is notified for strict compliance that releasing of confiscated material is completely banned and no request in this regard shall be entertained by deputy directors (enforcement) forthwith,” says a notification issued by the competent authority on Wednesday. The notification also directed the store in-charge to strictly implement the instructions in letter and spirit.
Under the new policy, the CDA will be auctioning the confiscated material in the third week of November. The costing section of the authority has approved the auction and the competent authority has also sanctioned the same, the sources added. The confiscation and subsequent auction of the material will not only help swell the CDA’s kitty but it will also discourage the encroachment trend amongst the traders of the federal capital, the high-ups in the CDA believe. In past, the CDA used to release the confiscated items against submission of fine.
The policy, according to the sources, would be put before the CDA board for approval.
What is being considered as a comprehensive anti-encroachment policy, it will cover all the aspects including anti-encroachment operation dynamics, permission for the operation, warnings to the encroachers, fines, confiscation of material and other procedures.
The sources said that currently the CDA’s enforcement directorate was mandated to remove encroachments from the ICT limits under ‘Islamabad Conduct of Business Regulations 1985’, which according to the CDA high-ups was quite toothless in the face of stiff resistance the officials of CDA enforcement directorate face from time to time at the hands of the local traders during the anti-encroachment drives.
Furthermore, the CDA is planning to remove around 1,100 illegal kiosks from different sectors of the city. The sources said that an operation was already going on that would continue until the objectives were achieved.
Majority of these kiosks was allotted after the year 2005 and the authority has cancelled their allotments.