Palaces on the farmland: SC orders action against misuse of agro-farms
The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to take action against those agro farms owners who were violating the rules.
A division bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry heard the case of the commercial use of agro farms and illegal construction in sheer violation of rules and regulations.
During the course of hearing, Capital Development Authority (CDA) Chairman Imtiaz Inayat Elahi told the court that instead of growing fruits and vegetables, marriage halls and villas have been constructed on the farmland.
He said that the CDA received complaints about 500 farms out of 610 and had taken back some 13,000 kanals of land.
The court had summoned CDA chairman with complete records of the illegal usage of agricultural farms in the federal capital. Issuing notices to agricultural farm owners who have illegally constructed palaces and marriage centres on farmlands, the court asked why the allotted land should not be cancelled.
The court had also issued a notice to the Attorney General of Pakistan.
The bench remarked that the main purpose of the agriculture farms was to provide “milk, eggs, fruits and vegetables to the citizens of the capital but palaces had been constructed there instead”. The bench also observed that the court would examine CDA’s procedure of allotting the land for the farms, since the CDA had relaxed its rules at the time of the allotment.
Adjourning the hearing for a month, Chief Justice Chaudhry summoned a detailed report regarding the agro-farm owners from the attorney general and the CDA chairman.
More than 0.1 million acres of land set aside for the purpose of farming has not been cultivated since establishment of the capital.
Sources in the Islamabad administration told The Express Tribune that illegal use of the agricultural land has increased in the suburbs of the city. Lack of attention by the authorities to facilitate the farmers and cashing on the prospects of earning a high value against the sale of this area, has left the fertile land wasted for many years.
The basic concept of this land was providing agri-products to the rural and urban citizens of the city, but sadly it could not be materialised, said an official.
Local farmers had earlier expressed serious concerns over the situation saying that the population of the city is rapidly increasing and the administration is busy helping private owners, providing them land at cheap rates.
Ameer Muhammad, a local farmer said that if the administration provided him with an incentive, cultivating land could turn profitable for the farmers. He said that it is unfortunate that the area specified only for agricultural purposes was being used for everything but that.
However, Director Agriculture, Agha Muhammad Ali Qazilbash (ICT) told The Express Tribune that administration is serious in order to promote agriculture by giving different incentives to the farmers.
However, he admitted that the lack of funds was also one of the reasons for turning a blind eye towards the capitals agrarian infra-structure.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 17th, 2011.
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