KARACHI, Dec 12: Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan on Friday called for effective steps for regularization of notified Katchi Abadis throughout the province, and provision of required facilities therein in an organised manner.

Issuing directives for attainment of progress as per the directives of President Musharraf in that respect, the governor ordered all the departments concerned to carry on the same through mutual cooperation.

Presiding over a meeting at the Governor’s House with regard to the situation in respect of katchi abadis, the governor asked the departments to carry out continuous monitoring and take steps to check further growth of them.

The meeting was informed that there were 1,293 notified katchi abadis in Sindh which came into being till March 23, 1985. The governor directed that the abadis that grew after that date be surveyed and effective disciplinary action be taken against government and non-government elements involved in the growth.

It was pointed out that 1,157 katchi abadis out of the 1,293 notified were regularizable, whereas 136 could not be regularised because of various reasons. The governor directed that an alternative strategy in respect of those abadis should be chalked out.

According to a survey, the 1293 Abadis have 0.573 million housing units spread over 25,410 acres and with a population of 3.533 million.

Dr Ebad further directed that work on low-cost housing projects be started with the revolving fund of Rs50 million provided by the provincial government.—APP