Petitioner seeks Rangers’ help to retrieve encroached land in Larkana, Shikarpur. PHOTO: EXPRESS
KARACHI: The Supreme Court (SC) issued on Thursday notices to the provincial secretary of the forest department and others on a petition regarding encroachments on forest land along the Indus River.
A full bench, headed by Justice Gulzar Ahmed, directed the authorities concerned to file their comments by the next hearing.
The bench was hearing a petition seeking direction for the provincial Rangers authorities to help the forest department retrieve more than 10,000 acres of the forest land encroached by influential persons along the Indus River in Larkana and Shikarpur districts.
The petitioner, Muhammad Umar Abro, informed the judges that a petition was filed with the Sindh High Court at its Larkana Circuit Bench against the encroachments over the forest departments.
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The encroachers had carried out residential constructions on the land belonging to the forest department in violations of the land laws, where various houses were built.
The judges were informed that the forest department authorities admitted before the high court that their lands had been encroached upon in the two districts along the banks of the river.
They expressed, however, their inability to get those lands retrieved from the encroachers on the pretext that anti-encroachment operation cannot be conducted in these areas without help from the Rangers.
The petitioner pleaded the apex court issue directions to the Sindh Rangers authorities to help the local authorities in two districts get encroached land back and restore them as forests.
After the initial hearing, the SC bench issued notices to the provincial forest secretary and others to file their comments by the next hearing.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 2nd, 2016.
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