LAHORE: The Lahore Development Authority (LDA) has decided in principle that it will not acquire private land, particularly a chunk of land where several industrial units continue to operate, forcibly for its mega residential project -- the LDA City.

The decision was taken in the light of a massive day-long protest staged by a large number of industrial workers, owners and farmers on June 6 against the acquisition of industrial land for the LDA City project under the Land Acquisition Act.

The protesters, under the banner of the “Kahna Kacha Industrial Association”, also demanded forthwith stoppage of the land acquisition process by withdrawing notices the LDA issued to various industrial units.

According to the plan, the scheme required total 69,685 kanals of land. This land includes 2,749.2 kanal of the already approved private housing schemes, 318.6 kanals of graveyards, 910.4 kanals of industry, 596.6 kanals of army land, 261.4 kanals of other parties, 58,404.2 kanals of agriculture land, 1,834.1 kanals of Ring Road and 4,610.5 kanals of settlements (villages/ localities/structures, etc).

LDA Director General Nabeel Javaid says it has been decided that an amicable solution to the industry land acquisition issue (acceptable to both parties -- government and the protesting industrialists, workers etc) will be found out to avoid any confrontation.

“One thing is clear that we will not acquire the land forcibly from the industrialists. We will make all efforts to reach an amicable solution of the issue,” Mr Javaid told Dawn on Friday.

He said representatives of protesters and the government had held a meeting on the very next day of the protest in which industrialists promised to give proposals for resolution of the issue, but these are still being awaited.

He reiterated that an amicable solution of the issue was the only option. An official, requesting anonymity, said the LDA must avoid acquiring the land which might cause problems in implementing the project.

“Sometime ago, the industrial units were issued notices for ‘Compulsory Land Acquisition in the Public Interest’ under the law. These notices panicked the industrialists as well as thousands of workers, forcing them to block the Ferozepur Road for many hours by staging a protest and a sit-in near Gajjumata,” the official said.

The official suggested that a boundary wall around the land acquired for the LDA City should be built to protect it from land-grabbers.

“In the Johar Town case, the owners after surrendering the land to the LDA had started occupying its parts gradually by making sheds of buffalos, etc. Since the project area was not walled, many issues related to land-grabbing emerged.

Till to date, the LDA teams continue to launch operation against encroachers in Johar Town, he said.

The LDA City on Ferozepur Road, which is claimed to be the largest housing project in the country, had been announced last year in Lahore.

The Punjab government has already notified land of seven mauzas -- Kahna, Kacha, Thay Panju, Sidhar, Halloki, Rakh Jhedu and Toor Warraich -- to be acquired for the project.

Published in Dawn, June 19th, 2016