RAWALPINDI: Commissioner Rawalpindi Azmat Mehmood has directed for compiling an estate land directory for the demarcation and protection of government land in the Rawalpindi division.

“The commissioner asked the forest department to come up with the details of the forest land in Murree (from 2009 to 2016) and the land used by Bahria Enclave along Murree Expressway showing if the housing society had acquired the land or encroached on it,” said a senior official of the divisional administration who attended a meeting of the forest department officials with the commissioner in the chair.

Additional District Collector (Revenue) Arif Rahim, Assistant Commissioner General Tariq Basra, Chief Conservator Forests Ziaullah Azmat, Conservator Forests Athar Shah Khaga, District Forest Officer (South) Chaudhry Ijaz, DFO Murree Wajihuddin, DFO (South) Iftikharul Haq Farooqi and Subdivisional Forest Officer Raja Manzoor attended the meeting.

The official said 15 days ago the commissioner had sought these details and called a meeting of forest department officials to check the status of the state land in the backdrop of the mushrooming growth of housing societies in Rawalpindi city and Murree.

He said the last survey of forest land in Murree was held in 2009 and approximately 42,900 acres had been demarcated for green areas.

Now there is a need to check whether the land allocated for green areas had been converted into housing societies or was still in the state possession.

He said the commissioner gave a week to the department to present the details of the land in Murree and Rawalpindi.

He said land along the Soan River had also been developed by housing societies and there were reports that forest land had been encroached upon by property tycoons.

“The government wants to protect its land and if anyone was found occupying the state land cases will be registered against them,” he said.

During the meeting, the commissioner also asked the forest officers to undertake all possible measures to protect the forest land.

The commissioner asked for strict implementation of the laws to prevent forests from encroachment and land grabbers.

He also stressed the need for taking measures to control landslides, especially along Murree Expressway.

The chief conservator forests, Ziaullah Azmat, briefed the meeting about the efforts being taken to protect forest areas, adding a large forest area had been reclaimed from encroachers.

Published in Dawn, September 16th, 2016