Lahore: Lahore Development Authority (LDA) is looking to develop a long-term commercialisation policy for the provincial capital, a news source reported. The Supreme Court had also ordered the authority to conduct a survey of commercial buildings in the city along with Urban Sector Planning and Management Services Unit.
Once the data has been collected under the survey, the authority will formulate a policy and review the reasons why public service facilities cannot be developed despite the allotment of public use plots.
Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar has recently placed a ban on the commercialisation of residential properties in the provincial capital and directed the authority to prepare a commercialisation policy in line with modern day requirements.
Currently, LDA allows commercialisation of properties on the payment of annual fees. The policy is geared towards increasing the authority’s revenue as citizens are using residential properties for commercial purposes in many areas.
According to a previous survey held in Lahore, LDA had identified over 20,000 properties that were being used for commercial purposes without making the necessary payments of commercialisation fee. The authority, treating it as a revenue opportunity, had allowed annual commercialisation of properties in residential areas.
