“It happens almost every day. When anti-encroachment teams launch an operation, the people ‘upstairs’ have it called off,” says CDA Deputy Director. PHOTO: ONLINE/FILE
ISLAMABAD: If you are influential, politically well-connected and have a say in the upper echelons of bureaucracy, then you surely have the backing of the top boss of the civic agency to help you in any bid to occupy state land.
Recently, when an anti-encroachment team from the Capital Development Authority (CDA) went to Aga Khan Road in Super Market to vacate around one kanal of state land under the occupation of an outlet of a coffee house, it found that being on the right side of the law did not necessarily equal being on the right side of their boss.
The team removed the bamboos wall erected on the occupied land and lifted chairs and flower pots, loading them into a vehicle to shift them to a CDA store.
In the meantime, according to sources, the owner of the coffee shop contacted an influential friend to stop the move. According to sources, the cell phone of the deputy director suddenly rang, and to his utter dismay, it was none other than his top boss, the CDA chairman, directing him to instantly call off the operation and return the confiscated material to the owner.
The sources said that the order was complied with and the anti-encroachment team offloaded the confiscated furniture from the vehicle and left for the CDA headquarters. They even arranged it as it was before.
Another source, who is also a member of the CDA board, said that the telephone call originated from the Cabinet Division, which oversees the affairs of the CDA. “A top officer in the Cabinet Division asked the CDA chairman to stop the team from carrying out the operation. The chairman then contacted the CDA team and in 10 minutes, it was all over,” the source said.
CDA Deputy Director Iqbal, who led the operation, told The Express Tribune that the CDA team first tried to remove the encroachments erected by the coffee shop but the operation was suddenly called off. However, he did not explicitly say who ordered him to call it off. “It happens almost every day. When anti-encroachment teams launch an operation, the people ‘upstairs’ have it called off,” Iqbal said laughing.
The CDA chairman, who did not attend a call on his cell phone, sent a text message denying he had intervened. “The anti-encroachment campaign is ongoing,” he texted.
On the other hand, the floor manager of the coffee shop, Zulfiqar Amin, claimed that the management of the shop is using the space under an agreement with the CDA’s environment wing. “They have permitted us and we pay a monthly rent for it,” he claimed.
Sources said the coffee shop is owned by a family in the pharmaceutical business with close links to the ruling party.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 25th, 2013.
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