Claims prompt action prevented land from falling under adverse possession. PHOTO: FILE
CADD Minister of State Tariq Fazal Chaudhary told the National Assembly about the scam on Wednesday while replying to a question from Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) lawmaker Sheikh Salahuddin.
Salahuddin had asked about encroachments in Islamabad and the government’s efforts to address the issue.
“Recently we discovered that around 600 plots in C-15 and C-16 were being squatted on and that a fence was being erected around them,” he said, adding, “We not only foiled the attempt but have taken the land back in our custody.”
He said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had been intimated about the land scam and all efforts were being made to stop such activities in the future.
He said a building control authority has also been established to look into such matters and establish a mechanism to stop such activities.
The minister, himself an MNA from Islamabad, accepted that “encroachments and adverse possession are growing with the passage of time,” while positing that no large buildings or plazas have been built illegally on state land.
Chaudhary maintained that the incumbent government had already taken serious action against those involved and a high-profile Federal Investigation Agency inquiry was under way regarding encroachments in slums. “Every day, actions are being taken against illegal constructions in the city,” he said.
The minister again candidly accepted that the anti-encroachment resources are insufficient to handle the rising number of such as issues, which impacts response time.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Shireen Mazari struck a chord by stating that the amount of government land in the city under adverse possession was increasing.
She said that in F-10, land marked for a government hospital had been grabbed by encroachers, while nothing was being done about illegal construction near natural waterways, where some people, she claimed, had built fences and walls.
To this, the minister replied that city bylaws do not allow for walls or fences in such areas. He also clarified that a past policy of giving possession of such land on lease to private parties had been withdrawn.
To another question, the minister replied that the government was working on adding parking lots in major city markets and commercial areas such as Super Market, Jinnah Super Market, and Blue Area. “We are going to inaugurate a parking plaza in Jinnah Super Market soon,” he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 18th, 2016.
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