A young girl looks out the window of the bus she is taking with her family as they evacuated the site where the landslide took place. PHOTO: ATHAR KHAN/EXPRESS
A committee probing the landslide in Gulistan-e-Jauhar has found that the incident was a natural calamity and ruled out 'china-cutting' as a possible cause.
According to the land director of Karachi Development Authority, Nasir Abbas, there was no encroachment or 'china-cutting' on the site where the landslide took place. "There wasn't any digging going on at or near the hill," he told The Express Tribune. "We have already transferred the plots to their owners and now we have nothing to do with them," he added.
Meanwhile, a police official who is assisting the inquiry team listed ‘china-cutting’ as one of the main causes of the landslide. “It is so far confirmed that ‘china-cutting’ may be one of the main reasons behind the landslide,” he said. “We cannot allow anyone to live here.”
Thirteen people, including seven children, were crushed to death while they were asleep inside their makeshift huts following a rare landslide that buried their thatch huts in Gulistan-e-Jauhar Block 1 early on Tuesday.
Read: And the world came crashing down…
Following the incident, a four-member inquiry team was formed on the orders of Karachi Commissioner Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui and Sindh IG Ghulam Hyder Jamali. The team was supposed to look into allegations made by the survivors that the land was illegally cut to allot plots and the landslide was a 'criminal conspiracy'. The team had to decide if the landslide was an accident or an act of crime.
The team decided to issue notices to the plot owners to evacuate the land within a week as they believed the site is vulnerable and more similar incidents can occur in the near future. Meanwhile, the officials investigating the landslide have started recording the statements of witnesses.
No major breakthrough
A day after the incident, there was no major breakthrough in the case and the officers are in the process of recording the statements of survivors, neighbours and officials of the relevant government departments. "So far, we could not reach any conclusion as different people have different opinions," said the police official, who requested anonymity.
The officer said that the owners of the plots will also be arrested if they were found involved in 'china-cutting'. The police are also looking into the alleged involvement of former Surjani Town DSP Javed Abbas as some of the survivors had named him. They insisted that DSP Abbas, who is currently out of the country, was involved in 'china-cutting'.
Read: Rare landslide kills 13 shanty dwellers
Plot controversy
Meanwhile, the authorities are having a hard time establishing the ownership of the plots. According to the police, there are four empty plots on the site where the huts were located. Soomro owns plot number 13-D, Farzana Qadir owns plot number 13-E, Kashif Ali owns plot number 13-B and Seema Qazi owns plot number 13-C.
KDA estate and encroachment director Jameel Baloch maintained that one of the four plots is owned by Pakistan Peoples Party MNA Ayaz Soomro. However, Soomro denied these claims vehemently.
"I rebut the controversy being drawn scandalously," said a statement issued by Soomro. "There is no plot linked with me on which there might be any type of construction being carried out or any carving out, alteration, 'china-cutting' or excavation or any type of work going on there."
Soomro added that he does not own any plot on which the landslide occurred nor were any nomad families living on his plot. "The news consistently highlighted against me has maligned and defamed my name.”
Published in The Express Tribune, October 15th, 2015.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ