The Lahore Development Authority (LDA) is taking strong measures to combat illegal construction by investigating officials who have allegedly enabled the construction mafia. Sources say that illegal construction cannot take place without the help of Town Planning wing officers within the LDA. The city has been inundated with illegal buildings due to the LDA’s failure to act against officials responsible for preventing such constructions, including directors, deputy directors, and assistant directors of the relevant zones and areas.
While the LDA has previously taken action against illegal constructions, the new Chief Town Planner, Asad Zaman, is taking a more proactive approach. Zaman has asked for explanations from two of his team members, Hammad Ali, Deputy Director Town Planning (Zone-IV), and Muhammad Atif, Assistant Director Town Planning (Zone-IV). Additionally, LDA is investigating illegal constructions such as marriage halls, plazas, marquees, and illegal land-use conversions on Raiwind Road, Pine Avenue Road, and Khyaban-e-Jinnah Road.
According to sources, these three roads have become centers of illegal constructions and land-use conversions in the southern part of Lahore, as they pass through various private housing societies. The LDA is determined to tackle the problem of illegal construction, and it seems that officials who enable the construction mafia will no longer be able to escape punishment.