On the books: Nehru Para, Shanti Nagar residents to get justice soon

Residents fighting a case since 1995 may see justice done in two months.

KARACHI:

Nearly 50 residents of Nehru Para in Shanti Nagar who have been fighting a case since 1995 may see justice done in two months.

On Friday, the Sindh High Court’s Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Imam Bux Baloch ordered the secretary of the land utilisation department to wrap up their case.

The petition was filed by a man named Karamatullah and 51 other residents. They say that they have been living on this land for decades. In January 1995, the Board of Revenue and land utilisation department started to bring the unplanned settlement on the books in a process called regularisation.

The land and houses were surveyed and a map was prepared along with paperwork on occupancy value. But the work came to a halt when the Sindh government banned converting any more unplanned settlements into official ones. The residents went to the land committee but the matter lingered on.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 29^th, 2011.