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KARACHI, Aug 28: The announcement by the chief minister to convert Mullah Essa Brohi Goth, which was devastated by this strong winds and rainstorm in June, into a model village has started to create problems for the villagers.
They allege that the land mafia, aided by certain officials of a civic agency and the local police, is trying to rob them of the civic amenities that are to be provided to the village by the government by having another area declared as Essa Brohi Goth.
Located in Union Council Songal of Gadap Town, Mullah Essa Brohi Goth was one of the numerous areas that were seriously affected by the storm and heavy rains that uprooted and damaged many houses in the village.
Chief Minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim visited the village, situated at the fringes of the city near the new Sabzi Mandi off the Super Highway, on June 28 and witnessing the damage caused by the natural calamities announced that it would be developed as a model village.
The villagers and representatives of a non-governmental community-based organisation working in the village – Mullah Mukhtar Ali, Abdul Latif, Faqir Mohammad, Ali Dost, Mahrum Ali, Peer Bux Channa, and others – told Dawn that after the announcement a land mafia group, supported by government officials, are trying to get another piece of land declared as Mullah Essa Goth so that it could be developed at the government’s expense and they could make a windfall.
The villagers alleged that after the announcement the area police, which was supporting the land-grabbers, was threatening them to vacate the village and shift elsewhere and false cases were being registered against them, while they were not even allowed to repair their damaged houses.
The area police have been ordered not to get involved in land matters by their superiors, yet the villagers claimed they were still being harassed.
The villagers said that Mullah Essa Goth was an old village and many villagers had national identity cards dating back to 1979, which showed their residence as the goth. Their names are also mentioned in the voters’ lists of 1985 while the goth was regularised in 1995 and is also mentioned in the list of regularised goths.
Responding to Dawn’s queries, the SHO of the Gulshan-i-Maymar police station, Akhtar Bangash, said that the police had not interfered in this issue as it could not interfere in matters related to land. The issue was between the Malir Development Authority (MDA) and the villagers, he said, adding that the MDA had even registered cases regarding encroachment on government land against some of the villagers.
Talking to Dawn MDA chief Amirzada Kohati said that Mullah Essa Goth was a regularised village and was located within an MDA scheme. The MDA had approached the Board of Revenue and the Goth Abad Programme to carry out a survey and demarcate its boundaries, he said.
To demolish or not to demolish
Mr Kohati said that when the survey report declared that it was the same Mullah Essa Goth which had been regularised, a boundary wall would be constructed around it so that no more government land was encroached on. However, if the survey found portions which had not been regularised, then a report would be sent to the chief minister’s committee, headed by provincial Revenue Minister Irfan Gul Magsi, and further action -- to demolish it or not -- would be taken according to these directives.
Meanwhile, Shafiqur Rahman Paracha of the Village Improvement Programme has also approached the city government’s EDO revenue to confirm the revenue status of the village as available in the revenue record as he would not be able to carry out work according to the chief minister’s directives on making the village a model village.
Besides, a representative of the owner of the land within the newly constructed boundary wall (next to Mullah Essa Goth) that the villagers alleged was being portrayed as the real Mullah Essa Goth by the land mafia, told Dawn that it was not a village but private land and a park was being developed there.
Gadap Town Nazim Murtaza Baloch has also approached the Board of Revenue’s Syed Anwar Haider for the demarcation of Mullah Essa Brohi Goth.
The villagers have urged the chief minister to ensure that the survey was carried out honestly and the real village was demarcated so that the development under the Model Village Programme was carried out at the deserving village and the nefarious designs of the land mafia were foiled.
They also urged that stern action should be taken against the corrupt government officials trying to cheat the poor villagers.
