KARACHI, Aug 6: The Malir Development Authority has requested the provincial government to allocate extra land to facilitate low-income people who did not get plot in the Taiser Town Housing Scheme.

“Around 400,000 people had applied for plots in different categories of Taiser Town and only 70,000 people succeeded. We have asked the Sindh government to allocate 6,000-acre land initially in Deh Paiee and Deh Ghaggar to accommodate the leftover applicants,” MDA Director-General Ameerzada Kohati said.

Briefing journalists at his office on Monday, he said 100,000 houses were needed annually in order to solve the growing residential problem in the metropolis.

He said the Taiser Town when launched was spread over an area of 20,000 acres and the scheme had some 70,000 plots on 14,466 acres. The MDA had vacated 9,000-acre land by removing encroachments, he said, adding that the project, which would cost Rs43 billion, would be completed by the next year.

Mr Kohati said development works were going on speedily and the network of basic necessities, including water, electricity and gas, would soon be provided in the town. The expected population of Taiser Town was 2.5 million after seven years, he added.

The balloting for allotment of plots in Taiser Town has not been held for the last six months, creating unrest among the government employees who had applied in the scheme, PPI adds.