ISLAMABAD: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) on Monday claimed to have retrieved 25 kanals of land from encroachers after removing illegal structures in front of Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU).

The CDA said that it had conducted the operations on the request of the university.

“On the request of the QAU, CDA on Monday, with the assistance of ICT administration and Islamabad police, demolished several illegal constructions near the gate of the university. The encroachments were demolished with the help of heavy machinery and more than 25 kanals of state land was retrieved from illegal occupants,” says a statement issued by CDA, adding 83 illegal shops, two newly constructed houses and two boundary walls constructed on state land were demolished with the help of heavy machinery.

Meanwhile, QAU’s Vice Chancellor Dr Shaista Sohail, through an official letter, requested the civic agency to take steps for removal of debris.

“I am enormously indebted to you for your kind ownership of the issues of QAU. This letter refers to operation of CDA to demolish illegal huts on QAU’s land. The demolition of huts has led to accumulation of heaps of rubble and debris along the boundaries of QAU and are unable to be removed without adequate machinery.

“You are requested to issue orders to the relevant office for the removal and complete clearance of the debris/rubble of the existing structure,” read the letter.

According to the press release, CDA for the last several months, has been conducting continuous operations against encroachments and illegal constructions in the federal capital, which has resulted in retrieval of state land worth billions of rupees.

Furthermore, the press release said that CDA has also been providing support to various institutions for the elimination of encroachments from the land allotted to them.

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2023