Daily Times

The building bylaws are openly being violated in different localities of the Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB), apparently with the connivance of RCB officials and building inspectors.

As many as seven shops are being illegally constructed in Street No 1 of Awan Town, Qasimabad. Moreover, construction of commercial plazas also continues in the Peoples Colony without any designated parking space, again in violation of building bylaws.

Construction work in the basement of a commercial plaza near Raees Hotel Saddar is going on allegedly under the supervision of RCB building super-checker Naseer Yousaf. The RCB has issued a no objection certificate (NOC) only for the renovation of the said building, but the owner of the building is making changes to the very building plan of the structure.

Sources said that Naseer Yousaf, who is blacksmith by designation, was appointed as building super-checker because he had good relations with higher authorities. He was suspended a few months ago for allegedly abusing a senior officer, and was reinstated without any departmental inquiry, sources added.

An official of the RCB informed Daily Times that a residential flat in the Mall Plaza of the Cantonment Board was allotted to Naseer Yousaf for his own residence, but he gave it to his relatives for their residence.

Sources maintained that a swimming pool was being illegally constructed in Ward No 7 of the RCB, allegedly with the support of the building inspector concerned.

According to credible sources, the RCB officers suspended the building inspectors upon the complaints or media report of illegal constructions to divert the attention of higher authorities, but reinstated them again in the building control branch after a few months.

A resident of the Misrial Road, Hamza Ali, said that if a common citizen even tried to repair any portion of his house, the RCB officials forced him to stop the work, but a large number of commercial buildings had been constructed in the recent past without any parking area, and the RCB building inspectors turned a blind eye to the illegal commercial buildings, which were impossible without the backing of the staff concerned.

An official of the RCB informed this scribe that due to the construction of illegal commercial and residential buildings, the board suffered losses worth millions of rupees every year.

A resident of RCB, Shiekh Naeem, demanded an operation against illegal constructions, besides initiating stern action against the corrupt elements.

“Commercial buildings are being constructed in broad daylight, but no one pays attention to these. The authorities know about this, but remain silent,” he maintained.

Postings in the building control department of the RCB are made on the bases of nepotism instead of qualification and expertise, as officials used their contacts for getting posted in the branch to ‘earn’ more, sources said.