LAHORE, Jan 18: The Punjab irrigation and wildlife departments submitted in the Lahore High Court on Tuesday that they were acquiring the provincial government land at Munawarpura village near Marala Head works for a recreational project and development of an area to serve as a reserve for flood water.

In their reply, the departments stated that the provincial government was competent under the law to resume any of its leased land for public welfare projects and no one had the right to occupy it for good.

They submitted that the residents of the village had been occupying the land on lease for Re1 an acre for 57 years and they were not entitled to keep it under indefinite possession for so meagre a lease money.

Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed adjourned the hearing of the constitutional petition, moved by the residents of the village who alleged that the Punjab government was attempting to displace the whole population of the village 57 years after its residents were allotted the land.

The settlement department is yet to file its reply to the petition. The advocate-general was also not available. The court directed the petitioners' counsel, Advocate M.D. Tahir, to file his rejoinder in two weeks.

The petition was moved by Allah Ditta, Sardar Anwar and seven others, who challenged a notification issued by the Punjab governor through which the land of the village was to be acquired for developing a recreational park around the head works.

The notification was issued on Nov 11, 2002, and the residents of the village came to know about the project when its contractors appeared with demolition squads to raze the houses.

According to the notification, the provincial government was to develop such recreational spots around 14 head works, including Marala. The court had already restrained the Punjab government from damaging the houses and crops of the villagers.

The counsel submitted that the village land belonged to the federal government and the Punjab had no jurisdiction over acquiring it for any purpose. He also contended that once the superior courts had restrained the government from getting the land evacuated, the issuance of a notification by the Punjab governor was unlawful.

He also submitted that the provincial government's project would render 200,000 people homeless. The counsel also submitted that the Punjab government had in 1991 gave an undertaking in the process of a writ petition that the land would not be evacuated.

The petitioners submitted that they were allotted small land-holdings as subsistence units when they migrated from Jammu and Kashmir and had ever since been threatened with losing their agricultural land and houses in the village.

The Punjab Irrigation and Power Department denied the claim that the land belonged to the federal government. It said the provincial government transferred the land to the Wapda which returned it to the parent (Punjab) department after developing the head works.

It submitted that the refugees were given the land on lease as a temporary relief and they were not allotted the land. The wildlife department said the village was part of the project of a wildlife sanctuary, which had already been approved by the government for taking special measures to protect the ecology of the area and the habitat of migratory birds. Besides, the department said, the area was to be developed into a picnic spot.