The reasons for no development work in CDA sector C-13 Islamabad are multiple as explained in this article. There is no final layout map for sector C-13 Islamabad released officially by CDA. The status for land award or compensation to original land owners is unclear. The status of illegal encroachments is unclear. It is yet unclear whether CDA will develop sector C-13 Islamabad as a residential sector or as a commercial district like the Blue Area Islamabad.
CDA had announced the award for sector C-13 Islamabad in the year 2008. Despite that no development work has since taken place in CDA sector C-13 Islamabad. Sector C-13 is the smallest CDA sector of Islamabad in terms of area.
Location for CDA sector C-13 Islamabad
CDA sector C-13 Islamabad lies adjacent to CDA sector D-13 Islamabad and across the Margalla Avenue from Shah Allah Ditta village – the foothills of Margalla Hills. The fully developed CDA sector D-12 Islamabad is diagonally adjacent to sector C-13 Islamabad.
Layout Map of CDA Sector C-13 Islamabad
C-13 is the smallest sector of Islamabad with approximately 800 Kanals of land. Market rumours suggest that CDA Sector C-13 is envisioned to have high-rise buildings to optimize housing density in a small area. Some reports also suggest that sector C-13 Islamabad will be developed as the new Blue Area of Islamabad – a commercial district. However, no final map for the development layout is provided by CDA at the time of publishing of this article in December 2024.
The number and sizes of plots available in CDA Sector C-13 Islamabad
CDA has not announced the number and sizes of plots in sector C-13 Islamabad. Instead, CDA had allotted plots to affected land owners in sector C-15. Therefore, there should be no plots for sale in the open market in sector C-13 Islamabad. However, very limited plots of 5 Marla were being traded in the market in sector C-13 Islamabad in the beginning of 2024 and through 2023. A very small number of 5 Marla plots in sector C-13 Islamabad were also being listed on Pakistani property portals like Zameen.com which now show as dormant or inactive as on December 9 2024. Nevertheless, if someone offers you a plot in CDA sector C-13 with proper documentation of ownership, then it would be highly advisable to approach CDA and make a proper inquiry regarding the plot’s genuineness.
Will CDA sector C-13 be developed as a commercial district – a new Blue Area of Islamabad?
Market rumors suggest that CDA does not plan on developing sector C-13 Islamabad as a standard residential sector. Instead CDA plans on developing sector C-13 Islamabad as a new Blue Area – a commercial district. CDA will likely consider the development of high-rise mixed-use buildings on the commercial concept of the Centaurus Tower as well as purely commercial and modern high-rise buildings. This gels well with the scenic location of sector C-13 Islamabad facing the Margalla Hills. Even though, as history suggests, nothing is final with CDA unless it starts taking shape on the ground.
Earlier CDA has also announced sale of residential and commercial plots in sectors C-14 and C-16 Islamabad to Overseas Pakistanis.
Budget approval for the development of CDA Sector C-13 Islamabad
In 2023, CDA had approved a PC-I budget of Rs.1,078 million for the development of sector C-13 Islamabad. There are no details of how much of this budget has been spent on the planning and development of sector C-13 Islamabad.
Problems in the development of CDA Sector C-13 Islamabad
The Land Award for Sector C-13 was announced by CDA in 2008 under a land-sharing formula. However, the CDA failed to announce the BuP Award for sector C-13 Islamabad. The lapse in the BuP Award for sector C-13 incentivized encroachment of illegal built-up properties on the land of C-13.
After a passage of 15 years – in April 2023 – hundreds of illegal built-up properties in sector C-13 were demolished by CDA. CDA had determined about 2800 bogus entries in the BuP survey for sector C-13 Islamabad. Later in August 2023 – based on the survey data – the DC CDA had announced 328 people eligible for the BuP Award of 5 Marla plots. DC CDA rejected 186 building owners as illegal encroachers. Another 108 building owners were rejected for BuP Award of 5 Marla plots since their BuP was of smaller covered area than the minimum eligible size of 300 Square Feet. This category of BuP owners were to be compensated in cash in accordance with the measurement of their build-up properties. Eligible affectees of CDA Sector C-13 – owning land and built-up property – were to be allotted plots in sector C-15. To date there is no confirmation of how many affectees of CDA Sector C-13 Islamabad have been compensated and their land taken possession of by CDA.
Current on-ground development work in CDA Sector C-13 Islamabad
As of December 2024, no development work has been done on CDA Sector C-13 Islamabad. The land for sector C-13 is in a raw natural state. There are illegally built-up properties on the land of sector C-13 Islamabad, but they do not seem to be expanding rapidly. Several illegal structures have been demolished on sector C-13 Islamabad. CDA will be able to swiftly develop sector C-13 Islamabad after it settles claims by the landowners under the Land Sharing formula earlier promised. However, a recent Islamabad High Court order has termed the Land Sharing formula illegal for the BuP Award. How will this decision by Islamabad High Court impact the outstanding settlement between CDA and the eligible owners of built-up property in sector C-13, remains to be seen.
Should you invest in land or buy a plot in CDA sector C-13 Islamabad?
As of December 2024, it is not advisable to invest in CDA sector C-13 Islamabad. The reasons for not investing or plot plots in sector C-13 Islamabad are:
- CDA has not made public an official layout map for sector C-13 Islamabad.
- CDA has not announced the final status of the award against land acquired in sector C-13 Islamabad.
- It is not clear whether CDA will develop sector C-13 Islamabad as a residential sector or as a commercial district like the Blue Area Islamabad as per market rumours.
- The recent order by Islamabad High Court has declared illegal the settlement of award under land sharing formula. This has created serious doubts on the ultimate possession of land by CDA.
- CDA has not started any development work in sector C-13 Islamabad over the last 15 years.
- There is no visible and abundant buying and selling activity in plots of sector C-13 Islamabad in the open market. Any healthy CDA sector has a visible trading activity.
To get guidance on investing in CDA Sector C-13, C-14, C-15, and C-16 Islamabad please email us at info@gharmubarak.com
