LAYYAH: Politically-backed land mafia demolished the new building of Union Council Chobara to grab the commercial land and also took away the debris, while the tehsil administration looks other way.

During the second phase of devolution of power to the local governments, the then union council nazim Allah Nawaz Khan had donated the land for the construction of a new UC building as the old one had become dilapidated.

“The District government allocated 1.2 million rupees for the project. Some of the funds were spent on the construction of the new UC building which was completed in 2007,” ex-councillor Tariq Gudara says.

“Interestingly, the local government is also denying ownership of the building,” Mr Gudara claimed.

Now, the land mafia has demolished the building which consisted of 3 rooms, a washroom and verandah using heavy machinery, besides taking away the debris, he lamented.

The Tehsil administration didn’t take any action against the land mafia, despite demolition of the building in broad daylight, wonders a citizen, Arshad.

When contacted, Chobara Assistant Commissioner Suleman Lone said: “The land is privately owned by a local resident, but we are investigating the matter.”

Published in Dawn, November 22nd, 2020