ISLAMABAD, Aug 4: The Capital Development Authority has made a payment of Rs400 million in compensation on 895 fake claims in D-12 sector, a CDA source told Dawn on Sunday.

A total of 2,847 claims were submitted to the Authority for compensation of property and land; of which 895 were fake and compensated in terms of cash and land worth Rs400 million in connivance with the CDA officials; whereas over 150 genuine landholders have not been given a single penny, the source said.

He said a total of 1,053 acres of land — 611 in Siri Saral and 442 in Pind Sangrial — was acquired for developing the sector. The compensation paid ranged between Rs70 to Rs900 per kanal for 753 acres. But no compensation has been given for 300 acres of land.

The CDA has given a major part of the compensation for built-up properties (structures). However, an amount of Rs1.2 million was still needed for giving compensation of built-up properties, he added.

Meanwhile a nine-member delegation of the D-12 affected people told Dawn on Sunday that they had asked for compensation at present market price for their land.

The delegation, headed by Zubair Farooq Khan of Jamaat-i- Islami, held the interior minister, Moinuddin Haider, responsible for the last week’s unfortunate incident.

The team, comprising Mohammad Azam, Mohammad Ramzan, Mohammad Ashraf, Wazir Ahmed, Ghulam Mustafa, Pervez Akhtar, Sabir Khan and Haji Abdul Razzaq, said the minister had been informed that the CDA was not dealing with their cases on merit. He did nothing to redress their problems.

“If the minister had directed the CDA to resolve the cases of compensation before starting development work, this tragic incident would not have happened,” they said.

They said the villagers were paid compensation on the rates fixed in 1954. Although their lands were acquired in 1985. “If the CDA could not give us compensation at the present market rate, it should at least compensate us according to the market rate of 1985,” they maintained.

They claimed that the CDA had not included some 800 kanals of ‘Shamlat’ and 1,000 kanals of cultivated land in Siri Saral and 600 kanals of ‘Shamlat’ in Pind Sangrial for compensation. The cost of all these lands was Rs1.2 million, they claimed.

The delegation demanded of the CDA to provide jobs to the affected people because it had deprived them of their homes and cultivated land on which they depended for their livelihood. “After the acquisition of our cultivated land, we were left with no other means of earning,” they said.

According to the CDA policy, it was bound to give the affected people alternative land both against their built up property and land. They have been given land against their structures on payment but not against their land.

The CDA, on the other hand, claimed that it had paid more than the due compensation to the villagers.

A CDA official said the villagers of Siri Saral and Pind Sangrial would not be given any further compensation since the amount given to them was highest-ever paid in Islamabad.

He said amendments had been made in CDA Ordinance, 1960 under which the present market price of land would be given to the affected people but the cases of D-12 did not fall under this.

PPI ADDS: Residents of kutcha abadi in Sector F-6/2 with predominant Christian population on Sunday, staged a protest against Capital Development Authority (CDA) for its apathy towards the uplift work of the area.