KARACHI, July 23: City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal while handing over the possession of more than 4,000 plots in the cottage industrial zone to their owners, 14 years after the allotment, has fixed a six-month deadline for the start of construction work on the plots.

Speaking at a programme organised in this regard on Wednesday, Mr Kamal said that the allotment would stand cancelled if the owners failed to initiate construction within the next six months.

He said the defunct Karachi Metropolitan Corporation had allotted 4,118 plots, each measuring 200 square yards, to citizens through balloting in 1994. However, they were denied physical possession of the plots during the last 14 years.

Since then land-grabbers encroached upon half of the land of cottage industrial zone, making it impossible for the successful applicants to establish cottage industry. “It was very easy for us to occupy the other half as the land was already occupied and no one could have blamed us for that,” he said. However, he said, it was the Haq Parast leadership that decided to get the land vacated and give the plots to the actual allottees. He regretted that the naib nazim of Orangi Town was shot at by land-grabbers during the anti-encroachment operation.

Mr Kamal said that no changes were made in the list of successful applicants. Besides they were given possession of their land at the same price. However, he made it clear that the city government would not allow any further delay in the establishment of a cottage industry. The owners would have to start construction within the next six months, he said, adding that non-compliance would only invite city government’s intervention. The city government would cancel the allotment and auction off the plot again, he warned.

The nazim said road work was already underway and expressed hope that the utility services would be provided within the next six months.

The Orangi Town Cottage Industrial Zone, spread over an area of 262 acres, was inaugurated in 1994. Despite the successful balloting the same year, allottees were not given possession of their plots as no development work could be carried out due to various legal issues and unauthorised occupation of land by encroachers.

The scheme was originally divided into nine blocks with a total number of 4,118 plots including 3,949 plots of 200 square yards, 140 commercial plots and 29 amenity plots. The project’s total cost was estimated at Rs1.113 billion.

After updating the record of allottees, settling all legal issues, removing encroachment from the area and handing over the plots, the city government has decided to bear all development charges in the cottage industry. The allottees would be asked to give nominal charges for outer development, it was pointed out.