‘Love’ for land: Put your travel plans on hold as transporters go on strike
Prison police, Hyd municipality and transporters dispute over land.
Prison police, Hyd municipality and transporters dispute over land. PHOTO: AYESHA MIR/EXPRESS
HYDERABAD:
A highly priced piece of land has led to a dispute between the prison police, Hyderabad municipality and the transporters, who have gone on strike from Sunday. As a result, all those people who were planning to travel by bus within Sindh will have to put their plans on hold.
The dispute began when the police and the Rangers evicted the transporters from a disputed land, adjacent to Hyderabad Central Jail on Saturday night. According to witnesses, hundreds of law enforcers forced the transporters to leave the land. The transporters claimed, however, that the law enforcers damaged their vehicles and stole their goods in the late-night operation.
“Nearly 4,000 vans, buses, coasters and coaches use this [bus] stand that provides livelihood to tens of thousands of people,” wailed Zeb Buriro, the leader of Sindh Transport Owners Ittehad.
Case history
This almost 10-acres piece of land, which is valued at over Rs1 billion, is located along the eastern wall of the central jail, which is home to a number of prisoners belonging to banned outfits. The prison department and the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation both claim ownership of the land and they have already taken their dispute to the Sindh High Court.
According to Buriro, the SHC issued a stay order at its last hearing against the eviction till the next date of hearing, which was fixed for March 11. “The district administration and the police have flouted the court order,” he alleged.
The bus stand has been functioning on the land since 2004. “The Sindh government approved the terminal in 2002 and, in less than two years, the stand was established. Why did the prison officials not object then?” he wanted to know.
The jail police started building its case only from 2011 when it denied the municipality from allowing the market of sacrificial animals to be set up for Eidul Azha. The jail superintendent, Pir Shabbir Jan Sarhindi, said that the British rulers bought the land in 1885 and used it as a jail garden.
The threat to prison security is another reason the police cited for making their case against the transporters. “The central jail is a high security prison, especially in the wake of the terrorist attacks on the prisons in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa,” Sarhindi told The Express Tribune a few days before the police forced eviction. “The daily movement of thousands of passengers who come from far flung areas of the country poses a serious threat to its security.”
According to him, the transporters were time and again asked to vacate but they did not comply with the orders of the district administration. They were given three days in December 2013 to leave the land but they did not budge.
The transporters, meanwhile, alleged that the jail police are not trying to take possession of the land for prison security. “They want to sell the land to the real estate developers,” accused Aslam Deswali, the chairperson of the transport committee of Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He cited another similar project of the jail police, which has allowed construction of a multi-storey plaza on its land right in front of the jail. “That plaza exposes the whole prison to anyone viewing it from the galleries or the roof.”
The jail superintendent could not be contacted to explain why the law enforcers resorted to a forced eviction and what the department plans to do with the piece of land. For their part, the transporters plan to file a contempt of court case in the high court on February 24.
The Jail superintendent, Pir Shabbir Jan Sarhindi, refuted the transporters’ claim that the jail administration intended to sell the land to real estate developers. “The Sindh government has approved the PC-1 for the construction of a 10-foot-high and five-foot-wide wall along this land. The work will start within a week and is being carried out to reinforce the prison’s security. Sarhindi also denied that the SHC had issued a stay order barring the LEAs from vacating the land. He maintained that the district administration had given them ample time to leave the land but they had not complied.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 24th, 2014.
A highly priced piece of land has led to a dispute between the prison police, Hyderabad municipality and the transporters, who have gone on strike from Sunday. As a result, all those people who were planning to travel by bus within Sindh will have to put their plans on hold.
The dispute began when the police and the Rangers evicted the transporters from a disputed land, adjacent to Hyderabad Central Jail on Saturday night. According to witnesses, hundreds of law enforcers forced the transporters to leave the land. The transporters claimed, however, that the law enforcers damaged their vehicles and stole their goods in the late-night operation.
“Nearly 4,000 vans, buses, coasters and coaches use this [bus] stand that provides livelihood to tens of thousands of people,” wailed Zeb Buriro, the leader of Sindh Transport Owners Ittehad.
Case history
This almost 10-acres piece of land, which is valued at over Rs1 billion, is located along the eastern wall of the central jail, which is home to a number of prisoners belonging to banned outfits. The prison department and the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation both claim ownership of the land and they have already taken their dispute to the Sindh High Court.
According to Buriro, the SHC issued a stay order at its last hearing against the eviction till the next date of hearing, which was fixed for March 11. “The district administration and the police have flouted the court order,” he alleged.
The bus stand has been functioning on the land since 2004. “The Sindh government approved the terminal in 2002 and, in less than two years, the stand was established. Why did the prison officials not object then?” he wanted to know.
The jail police started building its case only from 2011 when it denied the municipality from allowing the market of sacrificial animals to be set up for Eidul Azha. The jail superintendent, Pir Shabbir Jan Sarhindi, said that the British rulers bought the land in 1885 and used it as a jail garden.
The threat to prison security is another reason the police cited for making their case against the transporters. “The central jail is a high security prison, especially in the wake of the terrorist attacks on the prisons in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa,” Sarhindi told The Express Tribune a few days before the police forced eviction. “The daily movement of thousands of passengers who come from far flung areas of the country poses a serious threat to its security.”
According to him, the transporters were time and again asked to vacate but they did not comply with the orders of the district administration. They were given three days in December 2013 to leave the land but they did not budge.
The transporters, meanwhile, alleged that the jail police are not trying to take possession of the land for prison security. “They want to sell the land to the real estate developers,” accused Aslam Deswali, the chairperson of the transport committee of Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He cited another similar project of the jail police, which has allowed construction of a multi-storey plaza on its land right in front of the jail. “That plaza exposes the whole prison to anyone viewing it from the galleries or the roof.”
The jail superintendent could not be contacted to explain why the law enforcers resorted to a forced eviction and what the department plans to do with the piece of land. For their part, the transporters plan to file a contempt of court case in the high court on February 24.
The Jail superintendent, Pir Shabbir Jan Sarhindi, refuted the transporters’ claim that the jail administration intended to sell the land to real estate developers. “The Sindh government has approved the PC-1 for the construction of a 10-foot-high and five-foot-wide wall along this land. The work will start within a week and is being carried out to reinforce the prison’s security. Sarhindi also denied that the SHC had issued a stay order barring the LEAs from vacating the land. He maintained that the district administration had given them ample time to leave the land but they had not complied.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 24th, 2014.