KARACHI, Oct 18: Despite the directives of City Nazim Naimatullah Khan to stop construction work on a disputed plot, allegedly designated for children’s park at the Model School, Block 2, PECHS, the work continues unabated, creating resentment among the area people.

Area people, repeatedly approaching City authorities, are disappointed over the inefficiency of departments concerned to take action against the builder, who, they allege, has bribed the departments concerned to get approval for construction of a shopping plaza on the site.

In a letter to the City Nazim, the area residents mentioned that the said plot was converted from amenity plot to a commercial one, illegally, despite the opposition of society members and later this was sold to a person.

They alleged that the present owner of the plot had got approved the construction plan for a hospital from defunct KDA, but they claimed that he now intended to build a shopping plaza at the said plot.

When area people approached the City Nazim to inform him about the situation, he directed the concerned department to look into the matter and stop the construction forthwith.

Master Plan Department of the city government, through a letter dated 8/9/2003, had asked the society to take immediate action to stop the conversion of children park and recommended to lodge an FIR, if necessary, saying that the plans forwarded by the society to the city government might be considered withdrawn temporarily until the issue was decided.

The Society was also directed to ensure that in future such amenities provided for the citizen were not converted into commercial concerns.

An official in the Master Plan Department of the city government, when asked, however, said that the plot was shown as unspecified land in the plan of the Society. However, people assumed it as a children park and informed that all such pieces of land were converted into commercial land under an order issued in 1973.

He said that a number of letters had been written to the Karachi Building Control Authority (KBCA) and the Society to resolve the dispute as this matter did not fall under the jurisdiction of the city government because the KBCA was the competent body to resolve this dispute.

Nobody from the Society was available to comment on the issue, despite number of attempts to contact.

The Nazim, Jamshed Town, Ahmed Qasim Parekh, also wrote a letter to the city Nazim to draw his attention to the dispute, urging him to direct the authorities to restore the original status of the plot, an area resident said.—PPI