KARACHI, Oct 31: Residents of an unauthorized katchi abadi, situated near the PECHS Senior Model School, have started constructing two-floor RCC houses, despite the fact that the land, where the abadi exists, was meant for the expansion of an existing government girls school.

The school has been surrounded from three sides by the unauthorized dwellers of the katchi abadi.

As the said piece of land, reserved for school expansion, has been heavily encroached upon, the city government’s education department has been left with no other option but to run four schools, in two shifts, in the same school.

The boundary walls of the school seem to have been deliberately demolished to extend the area of the unrecognized katchi abadi.

Besides, the dwellers of the katchi abadi have even started constructing houses on the footpath, adjacent to the school, thereby leaving no space for the pedestrians.

Moreover, since the land belonging to a nearby KESC’s sub-station has also been illegally occupied by the dwellers of the katchi abadi, the officials find it difficult to rectify any faults in the sub-station.

People residing in the vicinity of the katchi abadi complained that despite repeatedly raising the issue with all the concerned authorities, including the PECH Society, Jamshed Town administration, Karachi Building Control Authority and the city government, none of them had, so far, succeeded in checking the illegal construction on the amenity plot.

It amounted to challenging the writ of Jamshed Town Administration, that despite the issuance of notice by the town’s land department, a footpath had been encroached upon to build an RCC house, a resident of the PECHS, block 2, said.

He added that it was strange that the KBCA officials, who usually noticed even minor renovation work, did not object to the illegal construction taking place in an unauthorized katchi abadi, and that too without approval of plan by the authority.

Complaining about indifference of the PECHS officials, a house owner from the locality said that they seldom take any action against those who illegally occupy land and alleged that whenever a citizen pointed out illegal activities, the officials exposed such law-abiding citizen to land grabbers.

“When we approached the City Nazim with regard to illegal construction, he asked the EDO (Revenue) to send him report about such activities, but no official in the Nazim’s secretariat is aware whether such a report has been received or not, although more than two months had elapsed since the Nazim sought such a report,” another resident of the locality remarked.