ISLAMABAD, May 22: The city managers have refused to provide land to the Civil Defence Department (CDD) in place for their 20 kanals which they had given to Lal Masjid for reconstruction of Jamia Hafsa in Sector H-11.

“The Civil Defence Department has asked for 20 kanals in the same sector but we do not have any extra land there,” the CDA’s director general (planning), Sarwar Sindhu, told Dawn on Tuesday.

He said a total of 80 kanals was allocated to the Civil Defence for National Institute of Fire Technology (NIFT) a decade ago but the the department did not pay the price of the land to the authority.

However, the interior ministry under which the Civil Defence falls continued to hold the land.

Another official in the CDA said the interior ministry gave the land to Lal Masjid administration in December 2011 following Supreme Court’s order to provide alternative place for reconstruction of the seminary.

Jamia Hafsa, earlier located close to Lal Masjid, was demolished after the military operation at Lal Masjid in 2007.

“We have not been consulted by the interior ministry and the local administration, and the land of Civil Defence Department was given to the Lal Masjid management,” the Capital Development Authority official said.

He said the remaining land in the sector had already been allotted to other government departments, therefore, the CDA had no other option but to regret with the Civil Defence.

Meanwhile, a source in the interior ministry said a meeting was held in the ministry on Monday in which the Capital Development Authority was asked to provide alternative land to the ministry in the same sector.

In December 2011, the Lal Masjid’s clerics had accepted 20 kanals in Sector H-11/4 for rebuilding Jamia Hafsa, the seminary for women.

The new site measuring 10,000 square yards is 40 times larger than the original site of Jamia Hafsa located adjacent to Lal Masjid in Sector G-6.