- DHA Valley Islamabad
-
Defence Housing Authority "DHA Community System" Ownership Private Type of Institution Real Estate Sector Established Feb 22, 2005 President Brig (R) Javed Iqbal Headquarters Islamabad 
PakistanHomepage http://www.dhai.com.pk/dhavalley Contents
Introduction
DHA (Defense Housing Authority) Valley Islamabad is a town located in Defence Housing Authority, Islamabad. A 6-lane DHA Expressway links main GT Road to DHA Valley. It is next to DHA Phase II-Ext. It is a joint venture project of DHA Islamabad, Bahria Town and Habib Rafiq Private Limited. DHA Valley is planned to be a completely self-sufficient community with parks, utilities, shopping and commercial areas, schools, mosques and hospital inside a single gated wall with 24/7 security[1].
Town Planning
There are nineteen blocks in DHA Valley apart from DHA homes and Commercial Avenue[2]. These are the blocks:
- Bluebell
- Bogenvelia
- Daffodils
- Daisy
- Eglantine
- Gloxinia
- Iris
- Jasmine
- Lavender
- Lily
- Lotus
- Magnolia
- Marigold
- Oleander
- Rose
- Snowdrop
- Sunflower
- Tulip
- Zinia
The project is designed by California based company OJMR Architects[3]. Habib Rafiq Private Limited is building the necessary infrastructure like roads, severage and bridges etc. DHA Homes are being constructed by a Turkish company named AREAA[4].
Construction and Development Progress
The project was launched in Nov, 2008 and is planned to be completed by the end of 2011 (DHA Valley plots) and by mid of 2012 (DHA Homes)[5]. Following videos show the progress on the project:
The Element of Fraud from DHA Authorities
Many people believe that the whole project is a fraud. It is known that DHA has only purchased 10% of the land required to complete the project. Whereas, according to the land laws of Pakistan government, they need to buy at least 85% of the land beforehand starting the project and taking money from them. The local land-owners of the area, after knowing that their land is worthy, rejected the offers from DHA to sell their land. It means that the project will never be completed and the town planning shown to the people will never happen. There is another serious problem to the execution of the project. DHA needs to surrender around 2,300 acres of land to local government authorities because this was the land previously decided to build a dam upon it.[6]Punjab government has decided to recover this land from the three big organizations i.e., Defence Housing Authority, Bahria Town and Habib Rafiq Ltd in Kahuta and Kallar Syedaan tehsils for the construction of Dhadhocha Dam to meet the water needs mainly of Rawalpindi and to some extent of Islamabad. This will severely affect the town planning and, in fact, the whole project.
Concerns about DHA Homes
There are several concerns about DHA Homes. First, the whole construction is relocated to the edge of DHA valley, while in the initial maps, was shown right in the center of DHA valley. This shows that DHA authorities are facing difficulties in getting the land from local residents. Also it flashes the concern that the whole valley will be relocated, further far away from Rawalpindi/Islamabad. Second, the company which was constructing the homes, AREAA, has dropped the project from the list of their ongoing projects, which shows the lack of interest, or possibly, drop of the whole DHA Homes agreement. Till now DHA authorities are unable to clarify any concern communicated by the members of this community.
See Also
References
- ^ DHA Valley Islamabad - A Project of Defence Housing Authority Islamabad
- ^ DHA Valley Islamabad - A Project of Defence Housing Authority Islamabad
- ^ Phase II Extn DHA Islamabad
- ^ AREAA Construction
- ^ http://dhai.com.pk/dhavalley/images/DHAValleyad.JPG
- ^ http://www.dawn.com/2011/05/04/big-to-pay-for-their-small-minds.html
External links
Categories:- Housing in Pakistan
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