The provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has decided to take action against illegal housing societies, considering the threat they pose to the agriculture sector and the environment.
A decision in this regard was made at a recent meeting in Peshawar, which KP Finance Advisor Muzammil Aslam chaired.
The action follows news stories about the adverse impact private housing societies in the province were having on agricultural land.
After the meeting, Aslam told the media that all such housing societies, which were operating without No-Objection Certificates (NOC), would be barred from development and high fines would be imposed on them, adding that these illegal housing societies were posing a great threat to the agriculture sector of the province.
The KP finance advisor further said that such illegal housing societies harm the province's food security and create environmental problems.
He reassured that the provincial government is fully committed to formulating a comprehensive strategy against such housing societies, with solid steps to ensure all legal requirements, including obtaining of NOCs for housing societies, are met for such projects.
Aslam reminded that in the past, the KP government had consistently planned actions against illegal housing societies which were creating problems for the agriculture sector and the environment. However, this time it had decided to take decisive action. Aslam also linked these housing societies to the surge in temperature in the province.