ISLAMABAD: Residents of Rimsha Colony, at a public meeting held on Sunday, demanded the government take measures to protect their homes during construction of 10th Avenue.

The major project has been planned to create a link between Rawalpindi and Islamabad. However, a large number of slum houses fall in the alignment of the road and residents fear that they will be forced to leave.

The meeting was organised by Awami Workers Party (AWP) where the future of 1,400 households was discussed.

A local, Iqbal Ustad, made it clear that the slum’s residents and supporters want to cooperate with the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration to facilitate a mutually beneficial outcome so that the 10th Avenue project goes ahead and fundamental rights of Rimsha Colony’s residents are protected.

However, he said, under no circumstances would hollow promises would make the project into a reality. The residents of the slum contribute in innumerable ways to the federal capital’s daily economic and social life and they cannot be discarded as collateral damage in the name of development as has been the case with so many katchi abadi residents in Islamabad in the past, he added.

Those present at the meeting vowed to continue peacefully demanding disclosure from authorities about the future of Rimsha Colony. The residents said they will be fighting for their rights and will continue appealing to all progressive and democratic forces to speak up for them.

AWP leader Alia Amirali said the only details that are publicly available about the 10th Avenue project are found in the PC-1 document prepared by the Planning Commission in which vague references are made about resettlement plans for Rimsha Colony’s residents.

She said neither the federal government, ICT administration nor the CDA had approached the colony’s residents to clarify what the future holds for 20,000 men, women and children who live there.

AWP’s Ammar Rashid said housing has been recognised as a constitutional right of all Pakistani citizens in the AWP’s own landmark Supreme Court case in 2015 and the authorities are obligated to uphold the rights of every single resident of Rimsha Colony.

Progressive Students Federation leader Jamil Iqbal and Women Democratic Front leader Amna Mawaz Khan also spoke on the occasion.

Published in Dawn, February 21st, 2022