ISLAMABAD, July 11: Private builders backed by influential people have started carving out plots on about 3,000 kanals of state land in the Sri Saral village falling in the national park area on the foot of Margalla Hills.
The land, a few hundred feet north of Sector D-12, was acquired by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) in 1969 and declared as the national park area.
An official of the CDA requesting not to be identified told Dawn that the construction activity at the national park area had started during the previous government but the civic agency could not stop it because the people involved in it were backed by influential personalities of the capital.
“Private developers have been bulldozing the hills in the north of D-12 and carving out plots. Once they sell out the plots, it will become an issue because the CDA will then wake up and take action against the plot buyers,” he said.
The official added that during the last three years, residents of the areas had filed a number of complaints with the CDA seeking action against the land mafia. Though the CDA member estate and member environment visited the area, he added, they failed to stop the illegal activity.
In 2009, the CDA was considering building a landfill site on 900 of the 3,000 kanals land but could not execute the project due to unknown reasons. It showed that the land is owned by the civic agency. However, now a private developer is constructing a housing society on that land. A landfill site can be established here just like the one in Kuri which is also a national park area, said the official.
It is pertinent to mention that the CDA acquired the Sri Saral village adjacent to Shah Allah Ditta in 1969 and some parts of it was included in the D-12 sector. However, the land outside D-12 falling in the Margalla Hills was declared the national park area.
Malik Mohammad Mehboob, a resident of the area, who had also filed a number of applications with the CDA to get the illegal constructions stopped, told Dawn that the land mafia had purchased some pieces of land in the nearby Shah Allah Ditta village and was now encroaching into the CDA land in Sri Saral.
“There are a number of societies which have been working here. They are carrying out development work on Khasra Number 1, 5, 6, 11 and 28, which are already acquired by the CDA. On my request, the CDA member estate visited the area and ordered a survey but after that nothing happened,” he said.
Mr Mehboob added: “The land mafia has not only bulldozed the mountains but also stolen precious wood, denuding the national park area of its greenery.”
Qazi Naveed, of the village, said in 1969 they sold the land at the rate of just Rs50 per kanal to the CDA. “At that time, no one could imagine that one day the land would become so precious here.”
When contacted by Dawn, Mohammad Ismail, an official of S.T. Builders, claimed that they had purchased the land from the villagers and were establishing a housing society called ‘North Ridge’ there. He said the development work was under process and by 2014 electricity, water and sewerage system would be in place there.
Rana Hammad, an official of another society, said they had been developing plots on the land and the CDA never stopped them. “This showed that the civic agency has no objection to the construction work,” he contended.
In a CDA notice (available with Dawn) dated July 5, 2013, its member estate, Shaista Sohail, informed all relevant departments, including the enforcement wing, that she had received complaints about development work on the CDA land in Sri Saral. The member estate ordered that all kinds of constructions should be stopped in the northern area of D-12 sector.
It was also directed that all vehicular traffic into the greenbelt from D-12 west service road towards Shah Allah Ditta should be stopped till the demarcation of the area.
Talking to Dawn, Idrees Ahmed, another resident of area, said on July 5 CDA director enforcement Liaquat Abbasi visited the area. “I requested him to take action against the construction work on the national park area but he did not listen to me. We have given four sectors - D-11, D-12, E-12 and E-13 - to the CDA which never allows us to build even a clay house on the land.”
It may be recalled that in July 2002, the CDA conducted an operation in Sri Saral, sector D-12, against illegal constructions that left two villagers dead and more than 60 injured. “However, the civic agency is not ready to take action against the influential land mafia which is openly occupying its land,” he said.
CDA spokesperson Aasia Gul while talking to Dawn said some private societies were carrying out development work in the area but the new chairman CDA, Nadeem Hassan Asif, had stopped all kinds of constructions in the north side of D-12.
When informed that the development work had not yet been stopped, Ms Gul said she would bring the matter into knowledge of the chairman.