LAHORE, July 12: The provincial government has failed to make any plan for 117 katchi abadis, which had been deleted from the list of the Directorate General Katchi Abadis and Urban Improvement, and have become encroachments on the state and private lands.

There were 308 katchi abadis in Lahore before the DGKA & UI had deleted 117 of them long ago, as these did not meet the requirements necessary to be declared katchi abadis.

Only those katchi abadis are entitled to get ownership rights and have had development works, which were established before 1985 with 40 dwelling units each.

The deleted abadis were established either after 1985 or have less than 40 dwelling units. The government has yet to chalk out any scheme about their removal or inclusion in the DGKA & UI list.

The DGKA & UI did not propose also any recommendation to the government to deal with the problem. Its officials claim that the department has nothing to do with it, as the departments whose land is occupied by the encroachers (dwellers of 117 katchi abadis) will have to take measures in this regard.

The elected katchi abadis are established in all parts of the provincial metropolis, including Samanabad, Gulshan Ravi, Wahdat Road, Gulberg, Sabzazar, Cantonment, Multan Road, Shahdara, Ravi Road, Kasurpura, Badami Bagh, Mughalpura and Dharampura.

The names and some of the locations of 117 deleted katchi abadis are Ahata Chiraghdin, Cooper Hostel, 14-A, Lawrence Road, Bibi Pak Daman, Purani Bakar Mandi, PRT Garden Town, Link Wahdat Road, behind Khayaban Hotel, Barginza Quarters, Pipeline Wali, 36-A, Lawrence Road, Canal Park, Tawaila Bansawala, Ahata No 247 Dharampura, Shamnagar, Barkat Colony, China Hospital, Tahirabad, Neelampura, Miran Park, Mental Hospital, Wanket Nagar, 11-Egerton Road, Jhugian airport, Amer Jain Hostel, Dev Samaj Girls Hostel, DAV Hostel No 1 and 2, Hindu Hostel, Khalsa Hostel, Bengali Building, Junejo Town, Newan Ahata, Budda Darya, Mayo Colony, Takia Sunyaran, Malipura, Siddiq Colony, Moti Sagar, Harbanspura No 2, Jhugian Nashaiman, Jhugian Faiz Bagh, Chah Jamuwala, Khokhar Town, Gondi Pir, Muhammadpura No 1, Karamnagar, Al-Noor Colony, Ravipura Bund Road, Fazila Colony, Chah Motianwala, Younispura, Jhugian Allah Ditta, People’s Colony, Muslim Colony, Muhammadpura No 2, Islam Colony, Umar Farooq, Amin Colony, Ahata Nimakwala, Chah Qurbanwala, Ferozepura Ravi Road, Kot Muhammad Husain, Katri Sheikh Mubarak, Gawala Colony GT Road, Kot Fateh Singh, Haji Pura, Rohail Park, Rasool Park, Ravi Town, Mahmoodabad, Shahdara, Chah Awanwala, Warispura, Al-Badar Colony, Wireless Compound Colony, Mohallah Eidgah, Kothi No 89-B, Khan Colony, Sikandar Colony and Christian Colony.

Almost all these katchi abadis are established on the lands of Muslim and Hindu auqaf and Pakistan Railways, and few on the private land.

When contacted, auqaf chief administrator Muhammad Javed Iqbal said 25 deleted katchi abadis were established on the auqaf’s land. The department was conducting a survey after which it would decide whether to give them land on lease, or force them out, he said.

Of the 117 deleted katchi abadis, as many as 65 are reportedly established on the Hindu auqaf’s land. Hindu auqaf chief administrator Chaudhry Riaz, however, denied this while talking to this reporter. He claimed that only 11 deleted abadis were established on the department’s land.

Similarly, a large number of shanties set up within a few yards of the railway tracks between Lahore Cantonment and Shahdara, posed a serious threat to the lives of their residents. Some of them were set up only a couple of yards away from the tracks where the encroachers kept their cattle.

No construction in the range of 100 feet from the centre of the main line and 50 feet from the centre of the branch line is allowed, according to the railway officials.

They hold the DGKA & UI responsible for the encroachment there, claiming that it has regularized a number of katchi abadis near the track without seeking NoCs from the railways. These were later given proprietary rights by the Lahore Development Authority, they add.

DGKA & UI Director (engineering) Waqar Ahmad said the directorate had nothing to do with the fate of the deleted katchi abadis. The government would decide their fate, he added.

He, however, said no katchi abadi could be established on the land declared operational and sensitive area, or fixed for future development. But some of them are reportedly established on operational areas.

The idea of katchi abadi was developed in Gen Zia’s regime when the military government decided to recognize and regularize katchi abadis, having at least 100 houses. Funds were allocated for providing basic amenities to such localities, which encouraged the activities of land mafia.

In 1985, the political government of Muhammad Khan Junejo reduced the limit of katchi abadis to 40 houses, granting ownership rights to the occupants. This further encouraged the land mafia, which started encroaching upon more and more state land by building residential and commercial plazas on it.