CDA to prosecute officials for razing huts in G-11/4

Video surfaced online of CDA demolishing under-privileged area in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: Several impoverished families were left shelterless on Thursday when the shanties they live in Sector G-11/4 were razed to the ground by officials of the civic authority.

However, after an outcry online, the federal human rights minister and the district commissioner took notice, assuring action against the officials responsible.

Videos emerged on Thursday showing a bulldozer from the Capital Development Authority’s (CDA) demolishing a hut in the undeveloped area of Sector G-11/4. Subsequently, residents in some of these huts said that they had implored the CDA officials not to evict them, adding that when they protested, police officers allegedly punched and detained them.

Later, Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Hamza Shafqaat, in a statement on microblogging site Twitter said that the relevant officials of the CDA enforcement department had been suspended for razing huts in the slum.

Replying to a tweet from Federal Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari, Shafqaat said that an inquiry has been ordered to determine the facts in the matter.

Earlier, Mazari had slammed CDA officials for their “inhumane” act. She said the CDA chairperson had assured her that shelter and compensation will be provided to those affected.

“The shelter was provided to the affected families within a couple of hours,” she added.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 17^th, 2020.