News
RDA Seals Unauthorised Commercial Activities at Mid City Apartments
By Mariam Khan
Real Estate Analyst
4 min read
The Rawalpindi Development Authority sealed unauthorised offices, restaurants, and illegal penthouses at Mid City Apartments on Service Road, Mouza Gangal, in an operation carried out on the directions of Commissioner Rawalpindi Division and RDA Director General Salman Ghani. The RDA Enforcement Squad conducted the operation with support from Punjab Police personnel from Dhoke Lalyal Police Chowki and Airport Police Station, acting under the Punjab Development of Cities Act, 1976 and the RDA Building and Zoning Regulations.
This Is Genuinely the Third Time This Same Building Has Been Sealed
This is not this property's first encounter with RDA enforcement, and the pattern is worth understanding clearly. In December 2024, RDA sealed 15 residential flats and one restaurant at this same Mid City Apartments for illegal conversion of residential units into commercial use. In July 2025, RDA returned and sealed 17 further unauthorised commercial properties at the same building, comprising 10 offices, two apartments, one restaurant, and four hotels, after finding owners had constructed commercial space without required NOCs and in violation of approved building plans. This September 2026 operation now marks a third documented enforcement action against unauthorised commercial activity at this specific property within less than two years.
What This Repeated Pattern Suggests
A single building requiring enforcement action on three separate occasions within roughly 21 months strongly suggests that sealing alone has not been sufficient to permanently halt unauthorised commercial activity at this location. Whether this reflects different units or owners within the same complex repeatedly falling into violation, or previously sealed units being reopened and returned to unauthorised use after enforcement teams departed, is not detailed in available reporting, but either explanation points to the same underlying conclusion: this specific property carries a genuinely elevated, recurring compliance risk.
What RDA Says Comes Next
An RDA official said the authority would not allow unauthorised commercial activities, illegal construction, or violations of approved development plans within its controlled area, and confirmed field teams have been directed to monitor such violations and take action against violators without discrimination. This general commitment sits somewhat uneasily against this specific building's own repeated history, given that comparable public commitments accompanied both the 2024 and 2025 enforcement actions at the same address.
What Remains Unconfirmed
The specific number of units affected in this latest September 2026 action has not been detailed, unlike the more precise counts available for the two earlier operations. Whether RDA intends any additional, more permanent enforcement mechanism specifically for this repeatedly cited building, beyond another round of sealing, has also not been addressed in available statements.
What This Means for Buyers, Tenants and Commercial Occupants
This action targets specific cited portions and activities within Mid City Apartments, not a declaration that the entire apartment project or all of its units are illegal, and that distinction should be kept in mind by anyone with an interest in the building. Buyers, tenants, and prospective commercial occupants considering any unit at Mid City Apartments specifically should independently verify the approved building plan and permitted land use for that exact unit directly with RDA before signing any lease or purchase agreement, given the property's now three time documented history of unauthorised commercial activity recurring at this same address. Given this repeated pattern, occupants should treat this building's compliance status as something requiring fresh, direct verification for any specific unit, rather than assuming a unit's current use is legitimate simply because it has operated without incident for some period since the last enforcement action.
What This Means for Similar Properties in Rawalpindi
This case illustrates a broader lesson relevant to any residential apartment complex in Rawalpindi where units may have been informally converted to commercial use, since RDA has demonstrated a willingness to return to the same property repeatedly rather than treating a single enforcement action as final. Owners and tenants in comparable buildings should treat unauthorised commercial conversion as carrying genuine, recurring enforcement risk rather than a one time exposure that, once survived, is unlikely to resurface.