ISLAMABAD-The Capital Development Authority (CDA) on Monday has issued another notice to Pakistan Navy Sailing Club for its illegal development near the Rawal Dam.
The issue is in limelight since last Friday when the Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi inaugurated this club at Rawal Lake.  However, the capital development authority has declared the club as illegal and termed it as violation of its bylaws. The authority had already issued two similar notices in September 2019 and February 2020 to restrain the club’s management from doing illegal and unauthorised constructions but these were no use.
The latest letter issued by the Building Control Section (BCS) on 13th July available with this scribe again asked the management to stop illegal and unauthorised construction on site otherwise the structures would be demolished and removed by the CDA.
The Building Control Section (BCS) of the CDA is mandated to regularise all types of constructions across the city i.e. approval of building plans, issue completion certificates etc.   However, when The Nation contacted Director BCS Muhammad Fasil Naeem to know the actual violations made by the Pakistan Navy Sailing Club for which the management was served the notices, he informed that there is no formal allotment at Rawal Lake to Pakistan Navy.
“We don’t have any record of this allotment to Pakistan Navy Sailing Club while they never come to us for any approval,” he said, adding: “We have issued them the notice because they were carrying unauthorised constructions which are totally illegal.”
On the other side, according to a letter written by the Deputy Chief of Naval Staff to Chairman CDA in response to authority’s first notice, it was informed that Navy Sailing Club was established in 1992 on the directives of Prime Minister of Pakistan.
The letter also annexed three directives of the Prime Minister Office but it is pertinent to clarify here that none of them confirms the formal allotment of land to Pakistan Navy. The first notification issued in 1991 states that Chief of Naval Staff is appointed as patron in chief of all water sports in Pakistan. The second letter issued in 1992 was regarding prime minister’s directions to develop water sports centres at six different locations of the country including Kunhar River, Tarbela Lake, F-9 Park, Rawal Dam, River Ravi at Lahore and Sukkur Barrage.
Meanwhile, the third letter of prime minister office issued in 1994 is relatively more specific to the subject in which the prime minister has approved the development of a water sports centre at Rawal Lake. This letter states further that the centre will be developed by the Chief of naval Staff in his capacity as Patron in Chief for all water sports in Pakistan. The letter further added that the finance division will provide the funds while cabinet division will authorise provision of land at Rawal lake for the purpose.   
Meanwhile, the Deputy Chief of Naval Staff’s letter itself did not disclose about the construction of new club but it stated that only the uplift and repair is being carried out which was immediately required.