LAHORE: The Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) of Lahore has requested the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) to provide records of land acquisition related to the city’s major housing schemes.
According to sources, the records are from 2018 to 2023 and include Allama Iqbal Town, Gulberg, Johar Town, Sabzazar, Garden Town, Upper Mall, Tajpura, and Gujjarpura.
The details suggest that the ACE is investigating whether landowners received their fair share of the land they surrendered to the government.
Furthermore, the records will include exemption records related to the allotment of developed plots through land surrender, allotment of plots to the public at large, compensation, allotment through the exchange of plots, development, mortgaged plots, original maps, and other related issues.
An LDA official stated that there were minor issues in Allama Iqbal Town, Gulberg, Garden Town, and Upper Mall, while the problems were mostly in Johar Town, Sabzazar, Tajpura, and Gujjarpura.
According to the official, under the law, a 10-marla plot must be replaced with a 10-marla plot, but officials replaced 10 marla plots with two plots each of five marlas on prime locations.
LDA had previously constituted a five-member fact-finding committee to launch a thorough investigation into duplicate files and forged documents of various plots in Johar Town allegedly prepared by private individuals in connivance with the officials concerned.
An initial inquiry found bogus files for 100 residential plots in Johar Town while the investigation is ongoing, and ACE will scrutinize the records to determine whether or not there have been any irregularities in the allotment of land in the housing schemes.
