The Commercialisation and Enforcement Directorates of the Lahore Development Authority sealed 52 units on 14 plots in Quaid-i-Azam Town for illegal commercial activities and non-payment of commercialisation fees.
The buildings sealed for illegal commercial use included Al-Falah Electronics, Sony Centre, Al-Fazal Restaurant, Metro Tiles, Shan Electronic Store, Al-Zaib Marriage Hall, Al-Fatah Sanitary, Haier Electronics, Samsung, Farooq Glass, and Al-Quresh Marriage Hall.
The Estate Management Directorate of Private Housing Schemes demolished illegal structures on properties reserved for public utilities. They also demolished a boundary wall at a mosque site on Khayaban-i-Zahra. Encroachments were removed from mortgaged plots in Nawab Town. A site office in a graveyard in Jafar Town was demolished. The offfice of Audit and Accounts Housing Society Phase-I was sealed due to the non-execution of transfer and mortgage deeds.
As many as 16 out of 35 commercial plots were auctioned by the LDA for Rs126 million on Tuesday. An auction of commercial plots in Johar Town and Sabazazar schemes was held at the LDA Community Centre in New Muslim Town. As many as 46 bidders participated in the auction.
The highest bid, Rs23.2 million, was made for a commercial plot measuring 15 marlas in Block D-II, Johar Town. Its base price had been fixed at Rs1.4 million per marla. It sold for Rs1.55 million per marla.
The base price, per marla, for these plots was set by evaluators approved by the State Bank.
Members of the LDA auction committee, including Estate Management Directors Muazzam Rasheed and Usman Ghani, Finance Director Zaheer Asghar Raana and Land Development Director Imran Raza Abbasi supervised the auction.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 22nd, 2014.