President Asif Zardari has allotted 500 acres of land, retrieved recently during an anti-encroachment drive, for the low-cost housing scheme and another 300 acres for the martyrs (Shuhada) of the armed forces, said the Executive District Officer (EDO) Revenue, City District Government Karachi (CDGK) Roshan Ali Shaikh.
Speaking at a seminar 'Government Drive to Recover Encroached Land: An Open Discussion', organised by the Shehri-CBE in collaboration with Friedrich Naumann Foundation on Tuesday, the EDO said the ruling PPP and its coalition partners - the MQM and the ANP were supporting Sindh government's initiative regarding retrieval of land from grabbers.
Within only six days of the anti-encroachment drive, the Sindh government has retrieved at least 1,854 acres of land worth Rs 8.3 billion from the clutches of an influential land mafia in different areas of the city, he informed. Thousands acres of government's land had been encroached by influential land grabbers having political backing of all the parties, which would be recovered soon said Shaikh.
There has been an unprecedented surge in land grabbing and interpolation in revenue and land records since 2001, after doing away with the commissioner and deputy commissioner system in the province, he said. The lands of the revenue department, CDGK, co-operative societies and private property had been encroached, he added. The land grabbers are involved in crimes, particularly the 'target killings', the EDO said and added that the existing city's framework has failed to ensure security to government's property and now, efforts are being made to put in place a better and an effective governance system.
Shaikh said that at least 1,854 acres of lands in Gadap, Bin Qasim, Baldia and Scheme-33 had been recovered from the land grabbers. The names of influential people had been put on hit list to ensure successful anti-encroachment drive, he added.
He also said that a large number of land grabbers have been apprehended during the drive. He clarified that no old villages or settlements would be disturbed during this drive and said the anti-encroachment drive would be indiscriminate and transparent. While in the next phase of the drive, action would be taken against those land grabbers who are involved in land encroaching of the co-operative societies, he said.
The EDO said the Sindh Public Property (Removal of Encroachments) Ordinance 2001 had been promulgated which would have a separate anti-encroachment force, tribunals and courts, effective co-ordination with police and rangers, media and the civil society in order to take stern action against the land mafia. Tasleem Ahmed Siddiqui, a retired bureaucrat, said there was an acute housing problem for the people after the partition in 1947, and still the poor people are facing the same problem, and added that 80,000 plots were needed for the metropolis yearly.
Giving statistics of the katchi abadis in the city, he said there were only 538 katchi abadis up till 1985, however the tally had crossed 1,800 till date. Siddiqui said that according to an estimate at least 3,000 acres of land were being encroached. The land grabbing is causing a loss of billions of rupees to the provincial exchequer as according to him the official rate is Rs 5 million per acre.
He said that 50 percent incident of 'targeted killings' takes place because of land disputes between the political parties. The issue of land grabbing has been politicised with the passage of time and in these days taking action against them was very difficult as political parties including Sindhi nationalists were supporting this illegal activity, he added.
Farhan Anwar, an urban planner, held the planning and management system responsible for a surge in the land grabbing activities and alleged that it was easier here to bypass the laws as the state/government facilitates the 'mafia' in committing such offences.
"The rule of law, in its most basic form, is the principle that no one is above the law. This requires that all laws are applicable on all and sundry. The officials and politicians who patronise the land mafias in the city need to be made accountable", he said. "No master plan for Karachi has a legal sanction while the planning agency ie Karachi Development Authority (KDA) has no control over the implementation process. There is a dire need to develop a proper vision for the city as this is the city that can be expanded upto Hyderabad", he added.
Chairman Transparency International Pakistan (TIP) Syed Adil Gillani said the building bylaws framed by Karachi Building Control Authority (KBCA) were not being followed in the city while the land mafia enjoyed strong support from political parties. The government should focus on a strict implementation of the laws and take stern action against those involved in this crime, he added.
Earlier, welcoming the participants of the seminar, the General Secretary of the Shehri-CBE Amber Alibhai said the most visible and damaging manifestation of poor urban governance in Karachi was reflected in the encroachment of land and illegal conversion of land use.
Amber said there were multiple faces to this spiraling and debilitating phenomenon where parks and open spaces were encroached, sidewalks and pavements meant for public and pedestrian usage were encroached through parking of cars and extension of roadside shops. Besides, she said open drains were covered and built upon. Low density land use was converted sans any planning into high density land use, residential land use was converted to commercial land use and 'goths' turned into public housing schemes, she added. "The institutional corruption and loopholes in policy and planning are some of the contributing reasons for this ever escalating crisis that threatens to make a mockery of efforts made to put the city on a sustainable growth path", she said.