KARACHI, Aug 2: Police and the city administration have failed to vacate those police stations which have been built illegally on encroached land, belonging to civic agencies or private individuals, after a lapse of more than two years.

The provincial ombudsman, Justice Haziqul Khairi, had taken a suo motu notice of a news item published in Dawn in June 2000, relating to setting up of unauthorized police stations in the city.

Almost one-and-a-half year ago, in January 2001, the ombudsman had appointed the then commissioner of Karachi as a coordinator to settle the issue by coordinating with the police department, the defunct KMC and the KDA; but since then the matter has been kept on lingering.

On Friday, the ombudsman, while again taking notice of the problem, convened a meeting in his office on August 5 to discuss the issue with City Nazim Naimatullah Khan, DCO Shafiqur Rehman Paracha, City Police Chief Asad Jehangir, former KDA director-general Brig Zaheer Kadri (retired), and the EDO works, according to a press release of the ombudsman secretariat.

Notices were issued to all the concerned agencies, including the police and the local administration.

The DIG police had submitted a list of police stations, stating that except the Sharifabad PS, which had been leased out, the rest of the police stations were established on land owned by civic agencies or private persons. These are F.B. Industrial Area, Samanabad, Shahrah-i-Noorjehan, Rizvia Colony, Super Market, Taimuria, Paposh Nagar, Jauharabad, Azizabad, Shamim Shaheed and Haidery police stations.

During the last hearing, The defunct KDA had submitted a list of the plots on which unauthorized police stations had been established. The KDA was at that time an independent land-owning department which has now been merged with the city government.

On July 11, 2000, the then commissioner of Karachi appeared before the Sindh ombudsman and requested a grant of six months’ time to submit a consolidated report for regularization of land of these police stations.

“As the report has not been received, this office feels that involvement of other officers is also necessary to come to the core issue of getting the civic agencies/private people land free from the police,” the ombudsman secretariat press release stated.

It said that in a hearing on Jan 13, 2001, a list of illegally-built police stations was submitted by the deputy commissioners. In order to sort out the issue, a period of one month was allowed to the civic agencies and the police department to suggest remedial ways for settling the matter.

It was also observed by the ombudsman that as per the list supplied by the agencies, except one or two police stations, the rest of these were constructed on amenity plots or on private land. It was pointed out that as there was a large number of bridges and the land under most of these bridges was vacant it could be uitilized for establishment of police stations.

According to the list submitted by the KDA in February 2001, the police stations built on encroached land by grabbing civic or private individual lands were: Khowaja Ajmeer Nagri, Buffer Zone, North Karachi, Sir Syed, Hyder Market, Taimuria, Shahrah-i- Noorjehan, Sharifabad, Azizabad, Jauharabad, Samanabad, and F.B. Industrial Area police stations.

Similarly, the list provided by the defunct KMC to the ombudsman secretariat included the police stations of Sharifabad, Azizabad, Jauharabad, Federal B. Industrial Area, Samanabad, Haidery Market in North Nazimabad, Super Market in Liaquatabad, Rizvia in Gulbahar, Taimuria, Shahrah-i-Noorjehan, Tipu Sultan in KDA Scheme No 1, Mehmoodabad, Saeedabad and Baldia Town.

Inquiries conducted by Dawn showed that the police had encroached on at least six amenity plots of the defunct KMC and erected structures on them by utilizing their own funds. These include the police stations of PIB Colony, Mubina Town, Khokhrapar, City Courts, Azizabad, and Taimuria. Majority of these plots were earmarked for market places.

Two union council offices have also been unlawfully occupied by the police department for Sharafi Goth and Sachal police stations.

Furthermore, the Tipu Sultan police station has been constructed on a public recreational park, depriving the area residents of recreational facilities.

According to official data, seven police stations - Korangi Industrial Area, Zaman Town, Shah Latif Town, Peerabad and Shahrah-i-Noorjehan - have been illegally constructed on the land of the defunct KDA.

The inquiries revealed that the Korangi Industrial Area (KIA) police station has been established at plot No ST-11, Sector 6-D. Besides, the police unlawfully took into possession the area reserved for a road, some commercial plots and residential plots of Mehran Town to set up the KIA police station. The said plot of the defunct KDA was reserved for public building. The KIA police station spreads over an area of 2,500 square yards.

The police department had sent an application to the KDA for regularization of the land for the police station, which has not been entertained so far.

The police moved a step forward in erecting the structure of Zaman Town police station by encroaching on 35 residential plots of 60 square yards each and six commercial plots; thus they have encroached on an area measuring 4,000 square yards in Sector 48- B, Korangi No 1 1/2.

The Nabi Bux police station has been built on a land of the evacuee property trust department of the federal government and, according to the police claim, the outstanding dues on account of rent have been paid.

In addition, the police have occupied at least seven privately-owned plots/buildings to convert them into police stations. These police stations include Al-Falah, Model Colony, Mauripur, Baloch Colony, Eidgah, Surjani Town and Sher Shah.

The Gadap police station has been set up in the building of a veterinary hospital and the Murad Memon Goth and Mominabad police station have been built by encroaching on the main roads.

The inquiries showed that the police department has to pay over Rs4 million on account of rent of the five police stations to the defunct KMC — now to the city government. These five police stations are: Pak Colony, Mehmoodabad, Jauharabad, Darakshan and Clifton.

The police figures stated that out of the total 98 police stations in Karachi, 46 have been established in rented buildings of the defunct KMC, KDA, private lands and others. However, the police failed to show the record of the rent paid by them.

The police record shows that 26 police stations are established in government and semi-government buildings other than that of the police department. The record does not show whether the police have illegal possession of these buildings as these are neither rented buildings nor are the property of the police department.

Even after the issue of illegally-built police stations was in pending, the police have established three more police stations - Boat Basin in Clifton, Nasir Colony in Korangi and Pakistan Bazaar in Orangi Town.