Orchard scheme losing charm

Cattle dens, undocumented settlers mar farmhouse scheme

ISLAMABAD: The fascination of an ideal life that captivated the well-off to opt for a farmhouse in capital's Orchard Scheme Tarlai is fast fading away due to illegal cattle dens, undocumented settlers and lack of basic amenities.

The issues of villagers in Jaba, situated right in the middle of the scheme acquired by CDA in 1968, were left unresolved and the civic authority could not attain possession of over 80 farmhouses in its proposed plan.

The leftover issues encouraged a few opportunists from locals and CDA to illegally sell the land to cattle farmers expelled from Rawalpindi in 2009 to purge the Cantonment from buffaloes and cows said former Chairman Union Council Sohan, Sarfraz Hussain.



The remaining land in villager's possession was illicitly sold out to some Internally Displaced Persons from Waziristan Agencies, who left their native towns, in Law Enforcement Agencies' operation to cleanse the areas from the miscreants, he added.

The seriousness of the problems has been discussed and conveyed in writing to the authorities concerned but farmhouse owners are left to twist in the wind since 1994, a farmhouse owner Shakoor expressing his dismay said. He said our constant reminders of ensuring availability of facilities and security concerns on unverified dwellers have fallen on deaf ears. I was forced to sell out my farmhouse in prevailing situation, he added.

Another farmhouse owner Jaral Haider said the cattle's dungeon was being thrown out alongside the main road and around the farms creating serious health hazards as there is no mechanism to lift it by the civic body, practiced in the urban areas.



"Bumpy road, unpaved streets, non provision of drinking water, defunct street lights, absence of sewerage system and stinky smell of cattle's waste are the facilities we owned in over twenty years to establish a dream farmhouse, these were the taunting remarks of a farmhouse owner Hassan.

The Deputy Director of Capital Development Authority's (CDA) Enforcement Directorate Muhammd Ramzan, taking the easy way out on the issue, said his wing only provides reinforcement assistance on removal of encroachments and illegal constructions. Passing the buck to Land and Rehabilitation Wing, he said, the evacuation of illegal lands is the aforementioned department's responsibility under new and revised rules and regulations.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 8^th, 2017.