For decades, the federal capital has seen mushroom growth of katchi abadis, even near important installations such as the Presidency and Prime Minister House.

But as the number of these slums kept on increasing, the civic agencies remained unmoved to check them.

Now as the number of the katchi abadis has reached 25, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and the local administration find it almost impossible to remove them. With the security situation worsening in the country, the capital police say these slums have become a potential threat to the peace of the city.

During the last about nine years, the number of these slums increased sharply with people coming from different parts of the country and settling here. Similarly, the police carried out surveys of the slums and made recommendations to the authorities concerned to remove them. The surveys were conducted by the police after every major incident of terrorism or criminal activity in the city.

The katchi abadis are also considered a security risk for important installations such as the Presidency, Prime Minister House and Diplomatic Enclave.

Besides, there are also slums along the Islamabad Expressway on which VVIPs usually move. The police say as there are small and major roads passing through many of the slums it was not possible for them to cordon the areas in case of an emergency.

The police had also suggested removing 11 of the slums, including those adjacent to the expressway and some of the important installations. Besides, the police recommended installing fences around the slums along the highway.

Though the police claim that during the last five years 738 criminal activities were reported from the slums, neither any criminal nor any terrorist was arrested from these areas.

A police officer said terrorists were spotted and some of them arrested in the developed localities of capital’s rural area along with the recoveries of weapons and explosives. Most of the criminals who struck in the capital belonged to other parts of the country and came to the city to commit robberies, auto-thefts and other criminal activities, he added.

There are some slums where drug peddling and liquor selling take place. Distilleries are also operating there, the officer said. But even people involved in such illegal practices have never been arrested.

The police officer said people living in the slums adjacent to I.J. Principal Road often created security problems for the police by holding protests against power shortage etc., and disappearing into their illegal settlements.

Another officer said neither the CDA nor the capital administration had done anything to check the development of the slums. Majority of the slums are illegal but no action has been taken by the CDA or the capital administration for their removal.

“The slums were not raised within a day or moths, it took years,” the officer said, adding the departments concerned - CDA and the capital administration - did not take action when the slums were developing.

“They woke up when there is a need to develop new houses and commercial buildings to meet the need of urbanisation and found the land occupied,” the officer said. Besides, the slums got attention after occurrence of any terrorism or criminal activity. But under such circumstances, only the police were blamed for their failure to take action against the slums.

“The police can only take action against the slums for any criminal or terrorist activity. But the civic agencies failed to stop the growth of the illegal slums,” he added.

The removal of the slums is always a tough task as it is considered a human rights issue with the dwellers getting sympathies from human rights organisations and the media, said officials in the CDA and the capital administration. Besides, the slum dwellers also got stay orders from the courts against their eviction.

Some of the slums have cropped up on lands already acquired by the CDA for development of new sectors. Despite getting compensation for the lands, the owners are still occupying the lands making it impossible for the development of the new sectors.