Islamabad is sprawling as a city thanks to the exponential rise in the number of housing societies. However, only a handful of them are legal as they meet all the required conditions.
During a recent meeting of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Interior, officials revealed that 109 housing schemes in Islamabad are illegal and just 47 housing societies are approved.
Islamabad is divided into five zones, with Zone I and Zone II comprising of CDA sectors and Margalla Hills respectively. The illegal housing societies are based in the remaining three zones.
Zone IV is the most exploited zone of the federal capital as there are 77 illegal housing societies there. Zone II has 27 illegal housing societies and Zone V has 23 illegal housing societies.
Earlier this week, Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) ordered private housing societies to get NOCs before running ads on TV channels.
The landmark decision was taken during PEMRA’s 175th meeting that was presided over by Chairman Saleem Baig.
PEMRA decided to issue NOCs for ads only to those private housing schemes that have been approved by relevant development authorities. Disciplinary action will be taken against housing societies running ads without PEMRA’s approval.