Court orders evacuation of irrigation dept land

Issues written order on plea seeking to delay razing of illegal structures for a month

The Sindh High court ordered the Sindh government on Wednesday to evacuate the encroached lands of the irrigation department in the surroundings of the Indus River canal system and sought a road map from the Sindh chief secretary and Sindh irrigation secretary for providing alternative housing to displaced persons.

A three-member bench, comprising Justice Iqbal Kalhoro, Justice Agha Faisal and Justice Shamsuddin Abbasi, gave the directives while issuing an interim written order on a miscellaneous plea moving the court to suspend the demolition operation against encroachment on the irrigation department's land.

According to the plea filed by the Sindh government, razing housing over thousands of acres of land without providing alternative accommodation to residents would lead to a "human tragedy".

The Sindh government has stated in the plea that thousands of families are settled on the land belonging to the irrigation, forestry and agriculture departments and if their dwellings were razed, the residents of Badin, Larkana and Hyderabad would also be affected.

In its interim written order on the plea, the court also sought a measure of the encroached land in the surrounding of the canal system and directed the relevant authorities to identify illegally constructed residences and commercial entities on the land. It further directed the Sindh government to inform the court as to how it would evacuate the land and demolish illegal structures.

Earlier at the hearing, Sindh advocate general Salman Talibuddin moved the court to halt the demolition of encroachments for a month so that the government could arrange for alternative housing for affected persons.

He told the court that the SHC's Sukkur bench had ordered the demolition of illegal structures on the land in January 2020.

At this, Justice Kalhoro questioned, "What has the Sindh government done over the course of [almost] a year to arrange for alternative housing?"

Talibuddin replied that the issue was on the agenda of the cabinet meeting scheduled on Thursday (today), and the constitution of a committee for the purpose was to be proposed during the meeting.

"If the government intends to form a committee on the matter, then nothing will be done," the court remarked. "It is a matter concerning human rights for sure, but what is the government doing?"

It further asked Talibuddin, "What are the government's priorities?"

The provincial advocate general, however, insisted for delaying the demolition operation by a month.

Issuing an interim written order on the plea, the SHC warned of contempt of court action if the road map for providing alternative accommodation to displaced persons was not followed by the relevant authorities.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 24^th, 2020.