LAYYAH, Aug 9: Corrupt officials of the local revenue department have illegally allotted the land along the Thal Canal system to landgrabbers having the backing of an influential politician of the area.

The real estate people estimate the market price of illegally allotted land of the irrigation department as upward of Rs1 billion.

According to details, the Thal Development Authority had been established way back in 1950 to bring under cultivation vast desert land of five Thal districts — Mianwali, Khushab, Bhakhar, Muzaffargarh and Layyah.

Keeping in view the future needs of some 100 years, engineers and experts of the irrigation department reserved at least 160 feet land along banks of the canals for the maintenance, improvement and expected breaches.

For this purpose, the irrigation department had also planted thousands of trees on the reserved land.

The corrupt revenue officials have not only allotted the land along the banks of Thal Canal, Munda Branch Canal, Indus Branch Canal and Athri Branch Canal to the land mafia but also allotted Anayat and Darkhani rest houses to Khursheed Alam and Ghulam Ali, respectively, in stark violation of rules and regulations.

At least 34 kanals of land have been allotted to Muhammad Shafiq at Chak 112-ML, 24 kanal to Muhammad Hanif at Chak 115, 100 kanal to Muhammad Gull Khan at Chak 115-Ml, 96 kanal to Abdul Raheem at Chak 115-Ml (Munda Branch Canal).

Irrigation XEN Malik Asghar Mehmood said that illegal allotments had been challenged in the court of the Executive District Officer (revenue).

DCO Mehar Mahmood Akhtar said that DDOs (R) had been asked to allot the land of different departments after proper scrutiny of documents.

Former MNA Sardar Ghulam Fareed Mirani claimed that revenue officials had taken bribes in millions to allot the land to grabbers at the beck and call of an influential figure of the ruling PML.