Bahria Town Lahore vs LRRA – an account of the recent happenings

The second half of the year has turned out to be a little less than ideal for Bahria Town. The developer is facing several difficulties, including the Lahore Ring Road Authority (LRRA)’s intention to bulldoze properties in Bahria Town Lahore for the construction of Lahore Ring Road (LRR).

This particular issue is a lot more serious as almost all the land that LRRA needs to straighten the southern loop of LRR that cuts through Bahria Town Lahore belongs to private owners. These owners have been in a constant state of despair as, despite affirmation from Bahria Town, LRRA continued marking the houses that are to be demolished to clear way for the Ring Road. Not only this, the authority also quoted unexpectedly low rates for the loss to be suffered by homeowners.

On the evening of August 3, 2016, without any prior warning, the LRRA started to bulldoze Bahria Town boundary wall and cut down trees that fall in the road’s route. Reportedly, personnel from Bahria Town office showed resistance. The next day, a contempt of court case was filed against the LRRA stating that Lahore High Court had issued a stay order against construction of LRR route that cuts through Bahria Town.

Reportedly, a case was filed against these officers of Bahria Town claiming that LRRA has acquired the land for construction of the Ring Road by following the necessary legal procedure. Meanwhile, property owners are also staging protests against Bahria Town as the developer repeatedly assured them that LRR’s route will be altered through negotiations and their property would be kept safe. Bahria Town CEO Malik Riaz also assured affectees that he will do everything in his power to ensure that LRRA doesn’t bother the residents.

According to a news report shared in national dailies today, the Lahore High Court has ordered the LRRA to stop construction work in Bahria Town. The court has also called the officers concerned on August 15, 2016 for a hearing on the contempt of court case filed by Bahria Town against the LRRA.

It is important to note here that mainstream news media and newspapers have deliberately turned a blind eye to this situation. Some newspapers that published this news found the inner pages more appropriate for placing a single column news on the recent clashes between Bahria Town and LRRA, and that is despite the fact that this issues concerns a lot of families living in Bahia Town Lahore. Furthermore, while an advertisement is aired daily on many news channels during prime time hours relaying how spectacular Bahria Town’s Karachi project is, the residents of Bahria Town Lahore are waiting to hear from Riaz.

As ordered by Lahore High Court, the LRRA cannot demolish any more property in Bahria Town until further notices are issued. The next hearing in this regard is to be held on September 22, 2016. The affectees are now waiting for Riaz to come to their rescue. Despite being upset about the mismanagement of Bahria Town’s different projects in Lahore, they are very confident that he can fix these issues. We also request Riaz to take notice of the matter at hand and fulfill the promises he made about the route of Lahore Ring Road.