The Lahore division alone has over 600 illegal housing schemes. White Star/File
LAHORE: Despite tall claims of the government to protect green areas, grave concerns expressed by the civil society over consumption of the agriculture land for commercial purposes and court orders against it, hundreds of illegal housing schemes/projects already developed or being established currently on green areas, including about 230 such schemes in Lahore and its adjoining districts, are likely to be legalised/approved under a recent ordinance promulgated in the province.
The move, it is alleged, is set to benefit the powerful land mafia, which succeeded in purchasing huge chunks of land in the green areas around Lahore and other divisions. The land mafia has developed or is in the process of developing housing schemes in violation of the land use rules and the cities’ master plans. After the promulgation of the ordinance, titled “The Punjab Commission for Regularization of Irregular Housing
RRFUD to overcome urbanisation challenges
Existing issues in metropolis include poor governance, inequality and lack of technology
File photo
LAHORE:
Like other cosmopolitan cities of the world, the city of Lahore faces debilitating challenges of governance, inequality, technology, resources, transportation and environment. To overcome these issues, the Ravi River Front Urban Development (RRFUD) project was seen as a solution since the country’s inception. The previous governments had put the project off, on one pretext or the other as they lacked will to address the ills of a sprawling metropolis.
However, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led government decided to address the city’s major challenges of overpopulation, urban poverty and environmental damage through the development of a planned new city of the RRF. The RRFUD project, after remaining in doldrums for years, after the incumbent government moved to resolve the city’s existing issues and revive the city’s c