25 September 2004	Saturday	09 Shaban 1425

KARACHI, Sept 24: Land grabbers have started encroaching upon a two-acre piece of land, meant for amenity plots, in Block No. 1 of Gulistan-i-Jauhar.

The land grabbers, in the garb of shelter less families, have already occupied 50 per cent of the land by raising kutcha and pucca houses whereas more such structures are being raised to cover the remaining space.

The land, opposite the NED University and adjacent to the Khalid bin Waleed mosque, had been subjected to similar illegal occupation twice in the past also. However, the concerned authorities, acting upon the complaints by people of the area, had taken prompt action to foil the attempts.

The Scheme 36 (Gulistan-i-Jauhar) has become the country's largest township of flats with hundreds of builders having their stakes in the lands. Some unscrupulous builders resort to illegal means to acquire a piece of land in this scheme that could earn them millions of rupees.

They always appeared prepared to take full advantage of a situation where there is a confusion over the jurisdiction of municipal or cantonment authority. These greedy builders have now become a well-organized mafia bent upon grabbing any unclaimed, abandoned or neglected piece of land.

People of the area have drawn the attention of the concerned authorities to the situation and called for prompt action before the open amenity plot was fully encroached upon in the shape of a 'kutchi abadi'.