ISLAMABAD: Two policemen were injured as the Capital Development Authority’s (CDA) anti-encroachment operation in the capital’s Noorpur Shahan area was met with strong protest from residents.

As the anti-encroachment drive began, enraged individuals torched two of the CDA’s vehicles in protest, with authorities resorting to tear-gas shelling to disperse the people.

More police deployment was also sought to control the law and order situation.

The development comes a day after a protest staged by the slum dwellers of Allama Iqbal Colony at G-7 forced the CDA to postpone its operation. When the enforcement wing started the operation, the residents resisted and created a law and order situation, forcing the team to leave after sealing two structures.

Meanwhile, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) raised concerns over the CDA’s encroachment drives.

Recalling a meeting it had convened, the HRCP said on X that activists, lawyers and citizens had urged superior court judges to “uphold the Supreme Court’s 2015 stay order against summary evictions of katchi abadis (informal settlements), safeguarding the constitutional right to housing for the urban poor”.

It stated that the commission, along with its allied organisations, including the All-Pakistan Alliance for Katchi Abadis, National Commission for Justice and Peace, the Awami Workers Party, and Aurat March Islamabad chapter, criticised “the CDA’s anti-poor approach and failure to provide adequate low-cost housing”.

They noted that “only one limited scheme has been launched in the city since 2000, despite a katchi abadi population of around 500,000”.

The HRCP and others demanded that “informal settlements be recognised and regularised, warning that demolitions deepen the housing crisis”.

They emphasised that housing is a fundamental right under Article 9 of the Constitution, and called for “an end to forced evictions, respect for court orders, and due process in all cases”.

Last month, the HRCP, along with several civil society organisations, called on authorities to immediately halt all planned and ongoing eviction operations in Islamabad’s low-income areas and katchi abadis.

Legal battles

The CDA is carrying out anti-encroachment operations with special focus on illegal slums in Islamabad.

According to CDA’s rules, 34 societies/schemes were supposed to transfer amenity land in the name of the civic agency for further utilisation. However, despite the passage of years, CDA has failed to get the land. There are reports that many societies have already eaten up the land after carving out plots.

After removing Muslim Colony in the Bari Imam area, CDA also conducted an operation against Rimsha Colony at H-9 and Shapar Colony of G-7, where residents had staged a protest in March against the move.

In February, while hearing a petition filed by residents of Noorpur Shahan, Justice Minhas had issued a show-cause notice to the CDA and other respondents for wilful defiance of its earlier order regarding the long-pending development of Model Village Noorpur Shahan.

On February 13, Justice Minhas grilled top city managers, CDA Chairman Mohammad Ali Randhawa, for willful defiance of its earlier order regarding the model village, warning that contempt proceedings may be initiated if compliance is not ensured.

On April 7, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) suspended an earlier restraining order issued by a single bench, paving the way for the CDA to continue its anti-encroachment operations in model villages.

A division bench, comprising Chief Justice Sardar Mohammad Sarfraz Dogar and Justice Mohammad Asif, had passed the order while hearing intra-court appeals concerning land possession and enforcement actions in various model villages, including Noorpur Shahan.

However, the division bench’s order had effectively neutralised the earlier relief granted by the single bench, at least for the time being.

The same day, IHC’s Justice Raja Inaam Ameen Minhas restrained the CDA from demolishing houses and evicting local residents in Saidpur Model Village, located in the foothills of Daman-i-Koh, while hearing a petition filed by around 128 residents.