LAHORE: In a bid to recover commercialisation fee and penalty, the Lahore Development Authority (LDA), for the first time, has launched an operation to demolish business premises and buildings that fail to deposit fee or fine with the government treasury.

`Previously, it never happened like this, as the LDA officers used to seal such commercial properties that were, later, desealed because of influence by someone or attracting the field officials through bribes,` a senior LDA official told Dawn.

`This all, finally, forced us with no option but to start demolishing such buildings/premises partially in a bid toforce their owners deposit the requisite fee/Ene etc.It is a good step to recover the govt dues,` he said, requesting anonymity.

`On the directions of LDA Director General Tahir Farooq, a demolition operation has been launched in Johar Town by the town planning director (Zone-4) due to non-payment of commercialization fee on Khayaban-eFirsousi. The properties, sealed recently, were served with prior notices.

Properties were repeatedly sealed by the LDA earlier but their owners did not pay commercialisation fee, explained the official, adding that the operation was likely to be launched soon in other parts of the Lahore, including Garden Town, Muslim Town, Iqbal Town, Mustafa Town, WahdatRoad, Gulberg, Township, Green Town, Model Town (extension) and Faisal Town.

LDP: As the Lahore Development Programme (LDP) is underway, the city`s Assistant Commissioners continue monitoring the projects in their respective jurisdictions, ensuring that the work is being carried out according to the prescribed standards and timelines.

Assistant Commissioner Nishtar Muhammad Saleem Aasi recently visited union councils 241, 247, and 248 to oversee the progress of development works and data uploads.

A meeting regarding the LDP was also held by Assistant Commissioner Allama Iqbal Town, Khawaja Muhammad Umer Mahmood where theprogress of MCL and Wasa schemes was reviewed. During the meeting, the quality of red tiles used by a contractor was found to be substandard and the assistant commissioner immediately directed the contractor to replace them with high-quality tiles.

Ravi AC Tariq Shabbir visited Kashmiri Ghatti where PCC work is scheduled to begin next week. In UC 153, Shalimar AC Dr Anum Fatima oversaw the ongoing road construction work. She also resolved a bottleneck where work on a road had been stalled due to pending clearance from Wasa.

`The DC Lahore has directed all relevant departments to ensure the timely and quality completion of the LDP projects,` said a spokesman for the DC.