PM highlights importance of digitalised mapping

Islamabad: Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Wednesday that cadastral digitalisation of land mapping is the only way to defeat the land grabber mafia and benefit the overseas Pakistanis and increase revenue collection.

Addressing the launching ceremony of cadastral digitalisation of land mapping, the prime minister disclosed that only in Islamabad land worth Rs300 billion was either illegally occupied or was unutilised, besides 1,000-acre land of forest was illegally occupied.

The prime minister said that land grabbers in the country have been against such exercise because digitisation would impact their interests. The digitisation of land would bring about transparency, he added.

The PM further said that cadastral mapping digitisation of Islamabad, Lahore, and Karachi would be completed by October 2021 and in the next six-month cadastral digitalisation of land would be completed of entire Pakistan. This is the only way to defeat the land grabbers, he said. He added that the land is a debt capital as banks have not been lending against land and this project of digitalisation of land would unleash the potential.

He said that after digitisation transfer of land would be possible by sitting at home and would facilitate the common man most.

Overseas Pakistanis: PM identifies major hurdle to investment

He said that he was doubtful about completion of the project because there are interest groups who do not want digitalisation of land record. He said that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) system should have been computerised much before and efforts were being made quite some time but it was not done because absence of computerisation benefits the interest groups.

The prime minister said overseas Pakistanis are the biggest asset of the country and if congenial environment for the overseas Pakistanis is created for investment, the country would not need to go to global lenders – International Monetary Fund (IMF).

He said most of the overseas Pakistanis purchase land but unfortunately, their plots are illegally occupied. There are 50 percent cases of land in courts, he said, adding that weaker would be affected most.

He said that the climate change owing to global warming is the biggest threat to the country and cadastral mapping would also help the government to see how the green areas are being affected. He said that only along the Kashmir Highway, green area has been increased to 113 acres from 45 acres.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021