Locals protest illegal occupation of land

Members of land mafia cultivate wheat crop over Wapda’s land

HARIPUR:

Locals have approached the police and the district administration against an attempt to illegally occupy the land of the Water and Development Authority (Wapda) in the Pambala area of Khanpur.

According to sources, members of the influential land mafia destroyed a cricket ground including a cemented pitch, which is owned by Wapda, by ploughing the land before cultivating the wheat crop on it.

Despite the efforts by the locals and the cricket players to stop members of the land mafia, they did not pay any heed, prompting the area residents and the players to protest the incident.

Talking to The Express Tribune, locals said they intimated the Khanpur Police Station, the office of the Khanpur Assistant Commissioner as well as the finance department on the very first day the ground was ploughed.

Read ‘Remove encroachment’

They said the Khanpur AC took notice of the incident and asked the patwari concerned and the Wapda officials to visit the site and confirm if the land was owned by Wapda. They said even when the patwari pointed out Wapda’s land during the day, the influential people once again ploughed the land at night and cultivated the wheat crop on it.

In this regard, a large delegation of local municipal representatives and residents of the area met with Khanpur DSP, the assistant commissioner and Ex-en WAPDA and reported the incident. The delegation included the Village Council Chairman, Kisan Councillor and other notables.

On the other hand, a wave of happiness spread among the locals after the Public Health Department, as a result of the tireless efforts of former provincial minister Raja Faisal Zaman, repaired the motor and transformer of two tube wells of Dohriyan and Mohallah Rarian in Hattar and made them operational.

Also read Railways retrieve 1,028 acres land from illegal occupants

According to details, the matter of the malfunctioning motor of the Dohriyan tube well was brought to the notice of Zaman a week ago and the transformer of the Mohalla Rarian tube well was brought to his notice on Sunday. At this, the former provincial minister contacted the officials of the public health department for the repair of the motor and transformer of both tube wells. With his efforts, the tube wells were fixed and made operational, enabling the people to get water from these tube wells.

Zaman said serving the people was his priority whether he was in power or not. He said he would continue to serve the people with the same spirit in the future.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, November 8^th, 2023.