PTI govt plans new strategy to get federal quarters vacated in Karachi

‘50% of federal housing units are occupied by unauthorised residents’

KARACHI: The Federal government has once again taken up the issue of clearing the federal colonies and quarters in Karachi of illegal occupants and multiple options are being considered to implement the Supreme Court's (SC) orders to get the federal lands vacated.

According to official sources, these options may include engaging the law enforcement agencies (LEAs) and disconnecting water, gas and electricity supplies to compel the illegal occupants to vacate the government residences.

In this regard, a meeting on Friday between Federal Housing Secretary Imran Zeb Khan and Sindh Chief Secretary Syed Mumtaz Ali Shah was briefed about the status of federal government land and residencies illegally occupied in Karachi.

The meeting decided to involve LEAs to remove the illegal encroachments from the federal land as ordered by the SC.

The meeting, which was also attended by Board of Revenue senior member, Sindh home secretary and federal estate office officials, was briefed about illegal occupation and encroachment of federal land in the areas of Martin Road, Liaquatabad, Patel Para, Jahangir Road and Pakistan Quarters.



While lauding the role of Sindh government in its efforts to retrieve federal lands, the federal housing secretary said that 50% of the residential quarters, meant for federal government officials, were illegally occupied.

There are 254 quarters illegally occupied in Pakistan Quarters, 1,987 in the Federal Capital Area, 434 in East Jahangir and 300 quarters in West Jahangir.

The chief secretary asked the Karachi Commissioner Iftikhar Shallwani to prepare a report with the help of the federal estate office containing details of the illegally occupied federal land.

It should follow a proper action plan to get federal quarters vacated, he said adding the rights of people should be considered while carrying out the operation.

Official sources said that some important decisions were taken about the evacuation of Pakistan Quarters and other Federal government colonies during a meeting held on January 9.

The meeting was chaired by Sindh Governor Imran Ismail and was also attended by the representatives of the Association of Builders and Developers (ABAD).



The meeting discussed several options including the evacuation of Pakistan Quarters spread over an area of 32 acres. According to details there are 394 residential units in Pakistan Quarters including 202 D-type and 192 E-type quarters.

A report prepared for meeting revealed that as many as 254 residential units in Pakistan Quarters were illegally occupied while 68 residential units were under Sindh government's possession.

An empty vast ground was also there in the premises of Pakistan Quarters where the Federal government plans to construct high rise buildings.

An operation for the evacuation of Pakistan Quarters was earlier carried out on October 24, 2018 with the help of police.

However, the operation was suspended following public protest and later SC granted two months' time to the government to execute the evacuation plan.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 3^rd, 2019.