50 years on: Thousands of Islamabad natives yearn for land compensation
The civic agency is yet to pay compensate the locals; they want their remuneration to be revised
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ISLAMABAD:
Ikram Malik was nine years old when Islamabad, the seat of power, was planned over 50 years ago. The federal capital has grown in size but Malik, now 63, has grown in misery.
Malik is one of the thousands of affected person whose ancestral land was acquired to develop Islamabad.
In 1962, his father, Malik Ikhlaq, was promised by the newly-formed Capital Development Authority (CDA) “an acceptable” compensation package in lieu of his ancestral land his family lived at for over 200 years in Malpur village.
Malik and all his brothers are now grandparents and the CDA is yet to pay them the promised compensation.
“Compensation in shape of residential plots against land and money for built-up structures is yet to be paid,” Malik said.
“Times have changed. Families have extended. We no longer acknowledge the commitment made by our father with the CDA over five decades ago,” Malik said adding his family would not leave the area until the CDA revises the package keeping in mind today’s land value.
The civic agency has announced to take over the ancestral lands of Malik and thousands of other families to develop more residential sectors.
According to the capital’s master plan prepared by Greek architects Doxiadis in 1960, the CDA was supposed to develop 48 residential sectors in phases after acquiring land from locals. It has developed only 13 sectors so far.
An award for Malpur village was announced between 1962 and 1963; consequently some of the land was taken over by the CDA. Issues concerning compensation for some pockets including Shamilat (collective land) were not settled at the time. These issues have been lingering on ever since.
Documents, available with The Express Tribune, show that the authority had acquired 30,140.987 hectares since its establishment in 1960. Of this, it does not have possession of 7,647.75 hectares since the locals refused to vacate their villages after CDA failed to pay the compensation. Today, the authority owes Rs40 billion to locals.
The main areas covering the unattended and neglected 7,647.75 hectares include sectors G-12, F-12, C-16, Malpur, and partial areas of D-12 and E-12.
The last compensation package was announced in 2013 for locals living at the proposed sector C-16, while land award for sector G-12 and F-12 was announced in 1985.
Though two other sectors, I-9 and I-10, are densely populated, the plan lists them as industrial sectors.
Ten other residential sectors which were announced decades ago are partially developed and issues of possession are still lingering on. These sectors include D-12, I-14, I-15, I-16, G-12, E-12, F-12, I-12 and I-11.
CDA’s failure to acquire land has been partially because of encroachments in and around the city. Over 50 years, the local population in villages grew and so did the building requirement. Not considering this, the CDA has declared all new structures illegal.
CDA Spokesperson Ramzan Sajid, acknowledged the fact that the CDA had not taken possession of all of the land it acquired decades ago. “Sometimes it is because of financial constraints and in some cases the locals refused to acknowledge land awards announced in the past,” Sajid said.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 24th, 2015.
Ikram Malik was nine years old when Islamabad, the seat of power, was planned over 50 years ago. The federal capital has grown in size but Malik, now 63, has grown in misery.
Malik is one of the thousands of affected person whose ancestral land was acquired to develop Islamabad.
In 1962, his father, Malik Ikhlaq, was promised by the newly-formed Capital Development Authority (CDA) “an acceptable” compensation package in lieu of his ancestral land his family lived at for over 200 years in Malpur village.
Malik and all his brothers are now grandparents and the CDA is yet to pay them the promised compensation.
“Compensation in shape of residential plots against land and money for built-up structures is yet to be paid,” Malik said.
“Times have changed. Families have extended. We no longer acknowledge the commitment made by our father with the CDA over five decades ago,” Malik said adding his family would not leave the area until the CDA revises the package keeping in mind today’s land value.
The civic agency has announced to take over the ancestral lands of Malik and thousands of other families to develop more residential sectors.
According to the capital’s master plan prepared by Greek architects Doxiadis in 1960, the CDA was supposed to develop 48 residential sectors in phases after acquiring land from locals. It has developed only 13 sectors so far.
An award for Malpur village was announced between 1962 and 1963; consequently some of the land was taken over by the CDA. Issues concerning compensation for some pockets including Shamilat (collective land) were not settled at the time. These issues have been lingering on ever since.
Documents, available with The Express Tribune, show that the authority had acquired 30,140.987 hectares since its establishment in 1960. Of this, it does not have possession of 7,647.75 hectares since the locals refused to vacate their villages after CDA failed to pay the compensation. Today, the authority owes Rs40 billion to locals.
The main areas covering the unattended and neglected 7,647.75 hectares include sectors G-12, F-12, C-16, Malpur, and partial areas of D-12 and E-12.
The last compensation package was announced in 2013 for locals living at the proposed sector C-16, while land award for sector G-12 and F-12 was announced in 1985.
Though two other sectors, I-9 and I-10, are densely populated, the plan lists them as industrial sectors.
Ten other residential sectors which were announced decades ago are partially developed and issues of possession are still lingering on. These sectors include D-12, I-14, I-15, I-16, G-12, E-12, F-12, I-12 and I-11.
CDA’s failure to acquire land has been partially because of encroachments in and around the city. Over 50 years, the local population in villages grew and so did the building requirement. Not considering this, the CDA has declared all new structures illegal.
CDA Spokesperson Ramzan Sajid, acknowledged the fact that the CDA had not taken possession of all of the land it acquired decades ago. “Sometimes it is because of financial constraints and in some cases the locals refused to acknowledge land awards announced in the past,” Sajid said.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 24th, 2015.