Expat Heather

Financial Times Says What about Defence?

Posted in Defence, lahore, noise, pakistan, pakistan security by expatheather on April 11, 2009
I just read an article on the Financial Times about Defence Housing Authority in Lahore. I live in Defence Phase IV, and I have been living in Defence for about 3 years. I’ve also lived in Phase III. Some of these points may be the official policy, but they are not enforced.

“In addition to physical security, local administrators take great care in applying municipal bylaws. Rules, such as forcing residents to equip power generators with sound-proof canopies or forcing parties to turn loud music off by a cut-off time of midnight, are applied rigorously. In fact, on one recent evening, Defence’s guards appeared 10 minutes after midnight to force an end to an event at the home of a prominent politician, who was shocked when told that his electricity would be turned off if he did not comply. In Pakistan, where influential individuals routinely break the law, such incidents are rare. “In DHA, rules are enforced strictly,” says Shafqat Mahmood, a respected political commentator who lives in the area. ‘Unlike other places in Pakistan, the biggest attraction of this neighbourhood is that you can’t break the law.'”

Financial Times article

I wish generators in my neighborhood had sound-proof canopies. I’ve been kept up by loud wedding parties several times, and they did not stop at midnight. My husband and I discussed the idea of “disturbance of the peace” with some friends who live in Lahore, and they said that there are rules about this, but they are not enforced. That said, Defence is quieter than other areas of Lahore, but the supposed rules about noise are not “vigorously enforced.”