PESHAWAR, Sept 1: NWFP has intimated to the federal government that over 47,000 acres resumed under the land reforms in the province could not be distributed among landless tenants for their being under litigation, according to official sources.

“Federal Land Commission has been conveyed that the province has not much land to distribute among the landless tenants,” said sources.

Over 400,000 acres were acquired from landlords in NWFP under the land reforms for their distribution among landless peasants.

Some 230,000 acres had been resumed under the land reforms of 1959, over 155,000 acres in 1972 and around 22,000 acres in 1977.

Over 325,000 acres, said the sources, had been distributed among some 42,000 landless peasants of Mardan, Kohat, Charsadda, Dera Ismail Khan, Tank, Bannu, Peshawar, Swabi, Karak, Lakki Marwat, Swat, Batagram, Nowshera and parts of Hazara.

In a letter to the commission, the provincial government, said the  sources, stated that whereas 47,000 acres of the resumed land could not be distributed for their being under litigation, some 21,800 acres which could not be distributed as they were categorised as ‘unallotable area’.

The 47,000 acres under litigation, said the sources, could not be distributed or, in some cases, could not be taken over by the government till the courts decided the cases in favour of the provincial government.

Of the land under litigation, some 36,000 acres are situated in Hazara region and 10,000 acres are situated in the Swat district.

The 21,800 acres ‘unallotable area’ involve area under rivers and land which cannot be utilized for cultivation.  

Of the unallotable area, 14,400 acres are in D.I. Khan, 2,500 acres in Tank district, over 3,000 acres in Mardan and over 1,200 acres in Swabi district.

The provincial authorities concerned, said the sources, had been asked by the land commission to provide detailed information about the area resumed under the reforms and the total area available to determine how much area could be distributed among the landless peasants.

“There are some 11,600 acres of the resumed area which could be distributed among the landless peasants in NWFP,” said the sources.

Except for the D.I. Khan district, where there are over 11,000 acres which can be distributed, land resumed in all other districts of the province have either been distributed or could not be distributed due to the involvement of litigation or being unsuitable for distribution.

The land commission, said the sources, had also been informed that the provincial government had land for distribution only in Dera Ismail Khan.