RAWALPINDI, Aug 11: The ill-planned Nullah Leh expansion project has displaced thousands of people who are facing numerous problems in renting alternative shelter.

A visit to the affected areas including Gawalmandi, Liaqat Bagh, Marir Hassan, Qaziabad, Kausar Colony, Dhok Charaghdin, Maqboolabad and Janda showed that shifting to alternative residence without a handsome amount of money and full government support was not as easy as our policy-makers would have us believe. It can create a noose of social, economic and psychological problems around the neck of affected people.

The problem being faced by these people is how to get houses on rent. The rentals have skyrocketed in areas where there has been a huge influx of people. A house with two rooms and a bath is available at Rs3,500 a month and Rs10,000 in advance, said Sohail, who recently shifted to a new house.

He said it was impossible for a man with a salary of Rs4,000 to 5,000 to rent a house. That was why, he added, many of his neighbours had shifted their families to their villages while a host of others lived in their newly rented, miserably congested houses.

He maintained that it had become impossible for the poor to live in the city due to exorbitant school fees, electricity, gas and water charges and house rents.

Mohammad Hussain of Qaziabad said he had built his house after labouring for 40 years, which the authorities made him vacate just by sending a notice. He said the government should have provided them land or constructed a colony where they could have built their homes by utilizing the debris of their demolished homes. The debris was left to the mercy of contractors who did not even pay the actual price of doors and windows while taking away the debris of whole building, he said and added, a debris worth a million could only extract Rs50,000 to 60,000 from contractors.

The people also lamented lack of communication between them and the authorities. Many of them are still unaware of the positive aspects of Leh expansion. Almost everybody in the locality was of the view that no development had ever benefited the poor but had only enhanced the bank balances of the authorities.

The compensatory cheques distributed by the government cannot be cashed due to unavailability of money in the account. For more than a month, the people have been visiting the local branches of Muslim Commercial Bank to get their cheques encashed.

Meanwhile, the authorities have set a deadline for the people to vacate their homes and remove its debris.

The people regretted that the Cantonment Board had been charging them all the taxes but did not consider their area as an urban or commercial one when it came to settlement of rates for their demolished homes. They were given Rs45,000 per marla as against the market rate of Rs80,000, they added.

The people criticized the government for its shortsightedness in devising plans.

Mohammad Amir of Gawalmandi said they had not received any relief funds from the government after the destruction of last year’s flood. He said if development meant depriving the poor of their shelter, they did not need it and would instead welcome the worst natural calamity which could demolish their homes but could not take away their properties.