KARACHI, Dec 26: Displaced families comprising women and children belonging to Elyas Goth staged a sit-in outside the Karachi Press Club on Tuesday to protest against demolition of their houses.

The village is an old settlement situated near Liaquatabad area along the Lyari Expressway route. Protestors said despite the fact that they possessed lease documents their houses were grounded by authorities and they were not being given proper compensation.

A women protestor Jehn Bibi claimed that we were living in a joint family system for four generations in a house consisted of four rooms but now I had been allotted an 80 sq-yards plot which I had to construct with a small compensation amount.

The protestors also claimed that the village was not included in the original survey report which was later revised to protect the interests of a particular community.

The rally was organised by the action committee of affectees of Lyari Expressway (Elyas Goth). According to estimates, more than 25,000 people have been affected as a result of demolition operation.

Expressway and authorities claim that they have been provided alternative plots in Hawkesbay and Surjani Town.

However, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and CBOs have complained of irregularities in the allotment of plots.