Islamabad - As the Capital Development Authority (CDA) is providing basic civic facilities to some five sub-urban centres and model villages beyond the ambit of its powers and functions defined in the CDA Ordinance 1960, the authority is facing difficulties to justify its annual expenditures running into millions of rupees.
The Capital Development Authority is providing basic civic facilities to some five sub-urban centres and model villages including Chak Shahzad, Humak, Tarlai, Kuri and Farash and delay in inclusion of these localities into the municipal limits of Capital Development Authority is causing issues on multiple fronts for the authority. These areas do not fall within the notified municipal limits of the CDA, and authority has been providing partial civic facilities to these areas on humanitarian grounds.
A senior official of Capital Development Authority said that the authority had no legal grounds to justify annual expenditures running into millions of rupees it makes on development of these sub-urban centres and other costs incurred on provision of civic facilities like garbage collection, water supply and upkeep of playgrounds and parks.
The expenditures are met entirely from the resources of the Capital Development Authority despite the fact the authority does not collect any type of municipal or other taxes from residents of these areas, he said. This is because Capital Development Authority is not legally bound to impose or collect taxation from these areas’ residents.
Actually these settlements fall within the areas of union councils of the Islamabad Capital Territory Administration but the administration does not share burden with the Capital Development Authority.
Originally, these model villages and sub-urban centres were established to accommodate affected locals of the Islamabad’s development and it was decided that the standard of development in these areas would be kept low by means of provision of electricity through overhead network, water supply through community stand posts, no central sewerage system or gas or telephone connections, and no vehicular access to houses instead of five to 10 feet wide pedestrian path.
The Capital Development Authority official said that the locals or affected persons who were originally allotted land sold it to outsiders, while in past the government gave a number of plots to senior journalists in those areas.
“These influential persons pressurised the consecutive managements of the Capital Development Authority and managed to get permission in 1980s for construction of double-storey houses, which was not earlier permitted, and door to door water, sewerage, and telephone connections, besides up-gradation of various other services,” the official added.
The CDA spokesperson Ramzan Sajid said in order to give legal cover to the expenditures and provision of other allied facilities, the Capital Development Authority requires issuance of a notification from the federal government. It is required to notify these areas under Section 15-A of the CDA Ordinance 1960.
In 2007, Sajid said, this case was sent to the office of the chief commissioner ICT for his comments. “The Capital Development Authority still awaits comments from the office of the chief commissioner Islamabad,” Sajid said.
Another senior officer of Capital Development Authority said that these two localities are sprawling haphazardly and on a very fast pace.
There is an immediate need to control further unauthorised development and prepare improvement plan of the existing localities by including these areas in the municipal limits of Islamabad without wastage of any further time.
The national assembly standing committee on cabinet secretariat has recently decided to hold a meeting to discuss one-point agenda of the Islamabad’s municipal limits.