The Pakistan Agriculture Storage and Services Corporation (Passco) has allegedly encroached 20x100-feet cumulative land of the city district government Karachi, a mosque and a link road of a graveyard in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town.
"At the time of demarcation Passco had encroached around 20 to 30-feet area of Rashid Minhas Road leaving an area of the same measurement vacant on other side of its boundary", alleged Erum Bungalows Welfare Association (EBWA) and administrative committee of Masjid-e-Umar Farooque, Block-11 of Gulshan Town.
According to "original numbering" of plots in the now defunct Karachi Development Authority (KDA) Master Plan, the ST-8 was allotted for Passco office, ST-9 for a graveyard and ST-10 for a mosque, the EBWA said.
But, a new plot, ST-8/1, was illegally brought into existence between ST-8 and ST-9 as a result of Passco's cumulative encroachments in Rashid Minhas Road, Masjid-e-Umar Farooque and an link road of Zikri Graveyard measuring around 3000 squire-feet, 1500-squire-feet and 6-feet respectively, they said.
Furthermore, PASSCO, a federal government institution, had been a silent spectator while the former KDA was allotting the occupied, but still vacant, ST-8/1 to a builder through an auction. The builder was now constructing a commercial-cum-residential complex at the said plot, said the Association.
"We have spared no one and sent complaints to the city government, PASSCO's headquarter in Lahore, the town nazim and zonal head of the PASSCO in Karachi but it did not work," said the two civil society institutions.
They said when the area residents reached Anwar Baloch, zonal head of the PASSCO, he refused outright to be a party to the longstanding dispute. In response to their repeated complaints the higher authorities of PASSCO few days back had issued a letter to its zonal office in Karachi to justify its position on the issue, they claimed.
They also questioned feasibility of the under-construction five-storey building measuring 20x100, with no free space available for parking and customers and visitors of the planned flats, shops and offices.
"Such a complex will create problems for residents and pedestrians in the area as the existing road leading to Erum Homes and mosque is already overcrowded," said the EBWA.
They demanded of the government to demolish the Passco's boundary wall around the 3000-squire-feet encroached land and reconstruct the service road/footpath as per actual plan.
The two civil society institutions also demanded of the government to stop construction on the disputed plot and ask the builder to vacate occupied land of the mosque and graveyard. Despite repeated attempts Passco's zonal head, Anwar Baloch, could not be contacted for his version.
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