KARACHI: City govt wants police to vacate plots : Illegal police stations
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Aug 5: The land department of the city government has asked the Sindh Ombudsman to direct the police department to vacate all illegally occupied plots and buildings, presently being used as police stations.
The land department, however, said possibilities could be explored to provide alternative plots to the police department on payment.
This was stated by the city government at a meeting convened by the Sindh Ombudsman on Monday to review the status of police stations set up illegally in the city.
The meeting was attended by Nazim Naimatullah Khan, city police chief Asad Jehangir, DCO Shafiqur Rehman Paracha, officials of defunct KDA and officials of defunct KMC and others.
The land department officials submitted a detailed report, to the Ombudsman about the status of police stations set up illegally on occupied plots and buildings.
The report said a number of plots of different sizes and categories had been occupied illegally by the police. Some of commercial plots had already been auctioned, but physical possession could not be delivered to the purchasers as well as KDA.
Due to illegal occupation of some other KDA plots worth millions of rupees by the police department, the KDA (now land department of the city government) had also been deprived of its revenue generation.
The report said an umbrella market was constructed by KDA in 1967 on plot No ST-4, Sector 35-F, measuring 75,888 square feet, in Korangi Township comprising 132 shops and stalls. The shops were to be disposed of through open public auction, but the market was illegally occupied by the Sindh Reserve Head Quarter/FSF in 1971-72 and was still in their possession.
“The cost of construction of umbrella market was around Rs7.5 million whereas the cost of land is Rs28.6 million. The present value of the market is about Rs47 million. Thus a great loss has been caused to the KDA”, the report maintained.
Besides, it stated, 139 flats in Sector 5, Sujrani Town, were requisitioned by the then DC West for police force on rental basis but no rent had been paid to the KDA so far. An amount of Rs3,836,400 is outstanding against the police department on account of rental charges.
The flats remained in the occupation of the police force between Dec 1, 1995 and Sept 1, 1997, and when these were vacated, they were in a shabby condition.
Consequently, a heavy amount of Rs2,953,446 was spent by the KDA on repair of the flats. In spite of repeated requests, no payments on account of rent and repair of the flats had, so far, been made.
The officials of the city government’s land department asked the Ombudsman to direct the police department to vacate all the KDA plots/buildings illegally occupied by them so that already disposed of plots may be handed to the purchasers/allottees.
The police department may also be instructed to pay KDA dues regarding rent and repair expenditure of the Sujrani flats. However, the KDA (land department) will explore possibilities to provide any available plots meant for police stations to the police department on payment of OV, and in case a plot is not available in a given area, the police department shall have to purchase/hire a suitable space from the market.
The sources said that the City police chief Asad Jehangir, who most of the time kept silent during the meeting, while giving the justification of illegal occupation said the KDA had never allocated a piece of land in new residential and commercial schemes and over the period when the population continued to swell.
The police did not find any place and had to build police stations wherever it found space.
The sources said the officials of the defunct KDA said that the police had never intimated them about the establishment of a police station in any scheme, which had been announced.
The police, KMC and KDA were directed to settle the issue early in the previous year and the Ombudsman had given them a six month period to settle down the issue. Despite the lapse of more than a year, the issue remained same and the Ombudsman had to take a notice again.
The officials told the Ombudsman that the system of police was being changed and a new system was being introduced that caused a delay in vacating the police stations set up on encroached plots/buildings.
The next meeting would be convened in near future for which the date would be decided subsequently.
He took up the issue of pavements being used by several eating-houses in the city, especially at Clifton and Boating Basin.
He said it was illegal and the police and city government were helpless to control them.
He suggested that a tax be imposed on them to use pavements, which would help the city government generate funds to be spent on welfare of the citizens.
He also discussed with the City Nazim the issue of charged- parking and said it should be regulated in a proper manner and workers of the contractors should not misbehave with people.
Sources said the Ombudsman, along with the officials and the City Nazim, visited Empress Market to inspect the traffic situation.
The Ombudsman pointed out that the traffic sign boards were installed on his directives but the police had failed to implement the writ of law.
He said the bus stops had been converted into parking lots forcing the buses to stop on roads which had led to a congestion at busy commercial areas.
He issued directives to the officials concerned to regulate the traffic in a proper manner and restrict parking of vehicles at no-parking zones.
He also visited Wazir Mansion — the birth place of the founder of nation Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah — and pointed towards the parking and filth around the birth-place.
He emphasised upon renovation of the building and keeping the place and its surrounding clean.
Brig. Zaheer Qadri referred to his earlier letter dated 27-6 2001 according to which 31 police stations are built illegally on land owned by defunct KMC, KDA and some at land auctioned by these civic agencies.
