ISLAMABAD: A longstanding land dispute between the army, Capital Development Authority (CDA) and the Federal Government Employees Housing Foundation (FGEHF) was resolved during a meeting on Wednesday.

A high level meeting was held at the Ministry of Defence and was chaired by Defence Secretary Lt Gen Zamirul Hassan Shah. The meeting was attended by officials of the Military Land and Cantonment (ML&C) Directorate, housing ministry and CDA, according to a source.

It was decided that the CDA will allot 33 acres of land to the army in F-12 in lieu of the army’s land in G-13, which is being operated by the housing ministry. The CDA will be giving the army land in F-12/3 in place of its land in G-13.

The army owned land in various areas of Islamabad since before the partition and the land in G-13, which has been occupied by the housing ministry, has remained a property of the army since British rule.

CDA, FGEHF and the army resolve longstanding dispute regarding ownership of land in various sectors

The source said the issue of ML&C and the Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) claiming they have land in G-12, G-13, G-14 and along Kashmir Highway was also resolved during the meeting and the army will now be given alternate land, most likely in H-13.

When asked CDA Member Estate Khushal Khan, who also attended the meeting, said: “I cannot share the details of the meeting, but I would say that many issues were resolved amicably in today’s meeting.”

Another participant of the meeting also said the land dispute was amicably resolved.

“CDA will allot land to the army in F-12 and the army will also be given alternate land in place of their land in G-12, G-13,” he said.

A CDA official said the Urban Planning Wing of the authority has earmarked 33 acres of land on the map of F-12/3 for allotment to the army after the completion of formalities.

In December last year, officials of the ML&C Directorate and RCB had during a meeting at the CDA Headquarters discussed the long pending jurisdiction issue between the civic agency of the federal capital and RCB.

According to CDA officials, ML&C Director General Maj Gen Syed Najamul Hassan Shah and other officials of the directorate had met with the then CDA chairman Sheikh Anser Aziz and discussed land issues pertaining to the CDA and the cantonments.

In the December meeting, an official said, cantonment officials presented maps which implied that the area which currently falls under the jurisdiction of Islamabad’s Noon police station and a portion of the Jhangi Syedan union council were part of Rawalpindi.

RCB officials had told the CDA that two important army installations — EME College and CMT Depot — were also located in the area which is evidence that the area falls under RCB jurisdiction. Sources said this issue was also discussed in the current meeting.

Published in Dawn, February 8th, 2018