KARACHI: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has recovered government land worth Rs1.5 trillion, while a special task force is being constituted to resolve land-related issues in Sindh, said Shakeel Ahmed Durrani, NAB Director General for Karachi on Saturday.

In line with the demand of the Association of Builders and Developers (ABAD), he said that land should be sold through public auction.

Addressing a ceremony held at ABAD House, Mr Durrani further said that the task force of NAB and the Sindh government will soon become operational.

He emphasised that both NAB and the Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah are on board regarding land-related matters. He said a new plan has been initiated to recover government land worth Rs10tr.

According to ABAD’s press release, he said that discretionary powers related to land often become a source of corruption. A proposal is under consideration to develop public parks on the recovered lands in consultation with the Sindh government.

Task force to tackle land issues; govt eyes Rs10tr recovery

DG NAB Rawalpindi Waqar Ahmed Chauhan said that NAB closely reviews ABAD’s reports to stay informed. For the first time in the country’s history, NAB has developed an online property system.

Layout plans of 1,026 housing societies across the country have been incorporated into the system. The online property system will soon be introduced for the public, and approved layout plans of societies will continue to be added to the system, he said.

Chairman ABAD Muhammad Hassan Bakhshi said that if Pakistan’s economy is to grow, Karachi must be embraced and supported.

He said that five plots of land, including park lands, have been recovered. The Chairman NAB invited ABAD to work jointly on these lands and assured that NAB would be informed to resolve title-related issues. Once clearance is granted by NAB, the title issues will be resolved, and thereafter no NAB cases will be filed against builders, which would help restore investor confidence in Karachi.

The ABAD Chairman also announced the formation of a committee between the business community and NAB so that matters can be resolved out of court and long-pending cases can move toward resolution.

Former ABAD Chairman Mohsin Sheikhani said that government institutions associated with land matters are not working on a digitalisation formula. Even after official approval stamps from government institutions, the value and legal standing of land are not secure, and people still have to make repeated court appearances. He emphasized that once digitalisation is implemented in government institutions, 80 per cent of land-related issues would be resolved.

Published in Dawn, February 15th, 2026