LAHORE – Maryam Nawaz-led Punjab government is looking to legalize thousands of unauthorized housing schemes and land subdivisions spread across the province.
In what could become one of the most controversial urban policy shifts in history of country’s most populated region, the sweeping proposal which is currently under scrutiny by Board of Revenue (BoR) with input from Lahore Development Authority (LDA) and allied departments, aims to approve projects out of the shadows and bring them under a formal regulatory framework.
Officials insist the move is not free pass for developers but decisive step to rein in rampant, unplanned urban expansion that has left millions of residents without basic civic services.
Under this plan, schemes that have long operated illegally would be forced to comply with planning rules. Developers would face hefty fines and penalties, with even previously “non-compoundable” violations now being made compoundable, effectively giving government new power to calculate and impose financial punishments.
Builders would also be required to take corrective measures to align their projects with official standards, ensuring the provision of essentials like roads, parks, mosques, and greenbelts.
LDA Chief Metropolitan Planner Faisal Qureshi revealed that penalties are designed to be heavy enough to deter future violations, stressing that the new system would no longer allow unchecked profiteering at the expense of urban planning.
Punjab had around 8000 housing schemes sprawled across nearly 2000000 kanals of land. Out of these, only 2,687 were officially approved, while a shocking 5,118 were either illegal or still stuck in the approval pipeline. With thousands of houses already built inside these questionable developments, enforcement has become a logistical nightmare for authorities.
Officials argue that the proposed amnesty-cum-penalty model could be a turning point: it would not only bring order to the chaos but also serve as a stern warning against the unchecked mushrooming of illegal housing schemes in the future.
If approved, this plan could dramatically reshape Punjab’s urban landscape, either as a historic act of regularization or a controversial lifeline for rogue developers.
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