Red tape: Buy a plot now and get possession never

Some people have been waiting for over 20 years to get possession of plots.

ISLAMABAD:

Nighat Malik has been kept from taking possession of a plot in Sector E-12 by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) for over two decades. The widow got the plot through balloting in 1989. However, since then the civic body has not handed over possession to her.

The CDA had acquired land for two sectors, D-12 and E-12, in 1989. After balloting plots, the body announced it would give possession to beneficiaries in a timely manner. However, twenty years later, that time has still not come. Just like Malik, there are hundreds of others to whom plots had been allotted in these sectors, but possession has still not been given.

Some have died waiting.

Abrar Shah, who works in local university, told The Express Tribune about his late father, Muhammad Abrar, who passed away in 2010, after waiting to get possession of a plot in E-12 for over a decade. “I don’t understand why the CDA is reluctant to hand over possession, because twenty years is a long time,” he added.

Official sources told this scribe that one of the main reasons for not giving them possession due to land encroachment by locals.

He said that a large numbers of locals had occupied land there and that one person was killed back in a clash over land back in 2002. “The civic agency is trying to vacate the encroachers through negotiations,’’ he added.

A CDA official requesting anonymity said that with the passage of time, more pressure would build on the body, because every chairman has taken this issue lightly. “The CDA has not developed a single new sector in the last twenty years despite the fact the population has shot up,” he added.

On the other hand, the SC had directed the civic agency to vacate the land of encroachers.   When contacted, CDA Chairman Engineer Farkhand Iqbal admitted that the issue is serious one and pointed out that since he took charge as chairman, “this issue has been on my priority list’’.  He claimed that a majority of the people have gotten possession of their plots in Sector D-12 and development work is underway. “D-12 is almost complete. Minor parts of land have been encroached upon, which will be vacated,” he said. Iqbal claimed that litigation arising from locals over relocation deals was also holding back the CDA.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 14^th, 2012.