ISLAMABAD: The dispute between the civic agencies of Rawalpindi and Islamabad over their jurisdiction continues and the Capital Development Authority’s (CDA) exercise of fixing boundary pillars in I-12 has also been halted due to the disagreement.

CDA stopped its exercise in I-14 as well after the involvement of the Islamabad district administration.

According to an official of the district administration, a meeting was held between representatives of the CDA and the Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) at the Islamabad Deputy Commissioner’s Office.

RCB removes some pillars, saying they were installed on land under its jurisdiction

He said RCB representatives told DC Mohammad Hamza Shafqaat that according to a 1958 notification, the disputed land belongs to RCB while CDA officials maintained that according to a 1963 notification, which has since become law, the area falls under the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT).

According to the official, DC Shafqaat told the meeting that the demarcation of land in I-12, I-13 and I-14 should be stopped till the matter is resolved by the federal government. He reminded RCB officials that the pillars were being installed on the directives of the Supreme Court to which they said they will become party to the case.

CDA spokesperson Syed Safdar Ali said the authority has decided to stop erecting pillars in I-12 till the matter is resolved.

“In a recent meeting held at the DC’s office, we agreed we will not move forward as the area is disputed,” he said.

The pillars are being installed in order to clearly identify the civic agency’s land and prevent encroachments and so far, some 50pc of the pillars have been installed at various points on the boundary of the capital city.

According to CDA’s master plan, the capital is spread over 906sq km and divided into five zones. Zone-1 consists of 222.41sq km, Zone-II of 39.68sq km, Zone-III of 203.93sq km, Zone-IV of 282.53sq km and Zone-V of 157.95sq km.

The demarcation had been carried out on the basis of the federal government’s notification of 1963, which says that the capital is spread over 906sq km which is also mentioned in the city’s master plan.

The master plan was prepared before the city was given the status of a district and was referred to as the ‘capital site’.

Officials in the CDA and ICT administration said that a few days ago, RCB had objected to the CDA’s move for establishing pillars in I-12 and told the CDA that it also owns some of the land in I-12 and I-14 which is why the authority cannot conduct the demarcation till the matter is settled.

CDA officials involved in the process of the exercise of the construction of boundary pillars said the RCB had strongly opposed the CDA’s installation of boundary pillars in I-12 and that it also demolished some of them, saying they were put up on RCB land.

Officials Dawn spoke to said that both agencies took the issue up before the Islamabad district administration in the meeting last Wednesday.

CDA officials said the boundary pillars are being established based on the 1963 notification in which the area under question is mentioned as being under Islamabad. They said that a Survey of Pakistan report also says the area falls under the limits of Islamabad.

They said RCB’s claim of owning land in I-12 and I-14 is illogical and that I-12 is CDA’s acquired sector.

RCB spokesperson Qaiser Mahmood said that the area- including British Home and Naseerabad- where the CDA had erected pillars, comes under RCB’s Ward-I from where an RCB member has been elected. He said people of the area are registered as voters from the RCB limit and are being provided civic facilities by the RCB and not the CDA.

Mr Mahmood said the CDA was aware that the area is disputed and erected pillars nonetheless which were removed by RCB staff. He said the issue of the disputed land has been taken up at high levels in the past and has been discussed in various meetings on both sides despite which the CDA installed pillars on the disputed land.

A few months ago, three housing societies had also objected to CDA’s move though the civic agency’s officials say the matter with the housing societies has been settled amicably.

Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2018