The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has recently cancelled the license of fourteen housing societies. These societies had failed to register with the relevant authorities despite being forewarned. In all fairness, this number reflects just the tip of the iceberg.
Unauthorised housing societies dominate the landscape of Islamabad. Of the 200 housing societies in Islamabad, only 22 are legal and 140 have never approached CDA for necessary approvals. Estimates suggest that about 90 per cent of the area in zones 2, 4 and 5 is not under the control of CDA. These numbers are staggering.
Why has a city once considered the poster child of a planned capital fallen to such ignominy? How could illegal societies mushroom within ICT without CDA taking note? Was CDA not in charge? Have the builders captured CDA?
Read: The crisis of urban housing
The Capital Development Ordinance 1960 had conferred on CDA the sole responsibility for a phased and planned development of Islamabad. However, CDA remained a government bureaucracy with an outmoded plan, incapable of understanding the appeal of Islamabad for migration. It did not respond to the need to update the plan, creating huge excess demand.
Of the 200 housing societies in Islamabad, only 22 are legal and 140 have never approached the CDA for necessary approval
CDA, stuck to the bureaucratic fascination with all housing restricted to two floors only, refused to let existing housing stock convert to multi-use medium-rise…
