ISLAMABAD: The district administration has assured Islamabad High Court (IHC) of retrieving the land to develop the much-awaited E-12 sector.

Deputy Commissioner Hamza Shafqaat has prepared a report after the IHC directed the city managers during hearing of a petition pertaining to the development of the sector to submit progress details on a regular basis.

During the hearing of the matter, the court was informed that the district administration had retrieved 1,000 kanals from encroachers in the sector.

“The exercise is ongoing and will continue till the possession of vacant land.”

According to the report, illegal structures in the sector will be removed in coordination with the Capital Development Authority (CDA).

“As per information and coordination with CDA, the engineering and planning wings are going to develop over 2,000 kanals of compact land which will form two subsectors of E-12. The Machinery Pool Organisation directorate will carry out work to mark streets etc,” said the report available with Dawn.

The full-scale development work on two out of the total four subsectors will be started in Phase-I.

During the anti-encroachment drive, the CDA and the district administration encountered protests by local villagers. But the issue was resolved and the CDA got possession of the acquired land peacefully.

The CDA sold plots to 4,099 people in 1989 but failed to deliver them developed plots because it could not remove the landowners from the area.

The CDA made a halfhearted attempt to begin an operation in E-12 a few months ago but turned back after resistance from the local residents.

This month, teams under the direction of the IHC began taking over the vacant areas.

The authority has not been able to take possession of the land due to claims by locals that their built-up property award claims were still pending. They said they would not vacate the area until the CDA compensates them, which the CDA says it already has.

CDA’s additional legal adviser Amir Latif Gill appeared before the court and apprised it of the efforts made by the civic agency. He said heavy machinery had been deployed for the development of the subsectors.

After the completion of Phase-I, the development of the two other subsectors will start, he added.

Published in Dawn, February 19th, 2019