November 23, 2002	Saturday	Ramazan 17, 1423

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ISLAMABAD, Nov 22: The interior ministry has asked the chief commissioner of the federal capital to remove the shanty settlement between sectors H-10 and I-10 as soon as possible.

Sources in the chief commissioner office said a letter to this effect had been received from the ministry and ‘necessary action’ was being initiated.

The kutcha abadi is located less than half-a-kilometre away from the International School, Islamabad, commonly known as the ‘American School’. It is believed that the administration of this school had approached the interior ministry, seeking the shifting/removal of the kutcha abadi.

A visit to the area showed that the road leading to the American School from the PTV World office, located at the far end of sector I-9, is already guarded well not only by the capital police, but by some private security agencies as well.

Special checkpoints, speed-breakers and pickets are already in place on this road and in the areas close-by. It has already been closed to the general public.

Some time back this road was used as a short cut by the residents of sector I-10, specially by the motorcyclists who somehow managed to cross the railway track which runs through the green-belt between ‘H’ and ‘I’ sectors.

But, for the past few months nobody is being allowed to travel on this particular road.

The sources in the chief commissioner office said the directive received from the ministry would be looked into and forwarded to the CDA directorate concerned.

“It will be the Capital Development Authority which will take action to remove this settlement from its present position and will also decide whether the people, dislocated from this particular part of the city, need to be rehabilitated in other areas or not,” the sources said.

The sources in the CDA expressed their ‘ignorance’ regarding any such move.

“We are not in receipt of any such directive so far. Obviously, we will act as and when we will receive this,” they said.

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