RAHIM YAR KHAN: The revenue and market committee officials, assistant commissioner, tehsilars and police from four police stations demarcated the proposed land for the new fruit and vegetable market on March 28 even before buying it from the owners who are unwilling to sell it.

The plan for the new market was made in 2006 after the then prime minister Shaukat Aziz ordered establishing new fruit and vegetable markets in various cities.

The Rahim Yar Khan market committee started making feasibility and proposed a piece of land in Basti Maalikpur on the Shahbazpur Road.

Basti Maalikpur residents, including Rasheed Ahmed, say that in 2007, officials of market committee and revenue department visited 14.6 acres land in their locality and selected it for new market, however, they (the residents) recommended to them another 12 acres piece near Chowk Bahadurpur on the National Highway. They say that more than 90 people, who own the 14 acres land, want to build their residences or shops on the land, besides the value of their land is Rs250m while the government is offering them peanuts, far below the actual price.

They allege that the main reason for government’s desire to acquire the land is to oblige the chief patron of fruit and vegetable market, Haji Farooq, because he has purchased five acres land, adjacent to this 14 acres piece, for commercial use after establishment of market.

More than 15 residents of Basti Maalikpur submitted an application with the district officer revenue in 2008 and with district coordination officer (DCO) in 2014, requesting the government not to acquire the proposed piece of land.

They also filed a writ petition before the Lahore High Court, Bahawalpur bench, against the move. Asif Pirzada, the counsel for petitioners, says that the LHC on April 2 issued instructions for the DCO to look into the matter again and resolve the grievances of the complainants, asking him not to move forward with the plan before taking all the stakeholders on board.

According to residents of Maalikpur, Anjuman Arhtian fruit and vegetable market was also against establishing the new market at the chunk of land proposed by the government.

Last month, the RYK market committee issued a cheque worth Rs22.4m to the district administration for the payment to the owners of the land but residents are adamant not to take it.

Market committee administrator Samiullah Chaudhry says the assessment of proposed 14 acre land was made by revenue department years back, adding that when a decision is made by the government in the larger interest of city, some people always oppose while others get benefit of it.

DCO Tariq Bukhari says he does not have details of the issue as Assistant Commissioner (AC) Dr Javed Ahmed is handling the matter while Dr Javed did not give any reply to the repeated calls by this correspondent.

Published in Dawn, April 6th, 2015

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