KARACHI, April 12: Precious government land owned by the education department in Federal Capital Area is being allegedly grabbed by a petrol pump proprietor, but the local government appears to be turning a blind eye to the alleged illegal activity.
Despite directives from the city government, the nazim of Gulberg town has failed to take action against the alleged encroachers, who have been in the process of expanding their fuel station structure under what they say a “new vision scheme,” for the past two weeks.
The quarters concerned told this reporter that the service station was run by the PSO at a Karimabad crossroads and its proprietor had begun raising a concrete structure on a piece of land without authority/permission. The additional land, measuring about 1,200 square yards, was owned by the education department, so the service station’s proprietor was not entitled to build any structure on it, said a senior official of the city government’s education department.
However, the proprietor of the service station/dealer of the oil company maintained that since the land had been leased out to the company once again for 30 years by the owner, the ongoing construction activities were justified and the government had no right to demolish the structure or to stop the expansion of the petrol pump.
It was learnt that the Government of Pakistan had allotted a plot measuring 25 acres to the All-Pakistan Women Association, Karachi chapter, in November 1960 to build a girls science college. A site for a planned petrol pump, measuring 150ftx150ft, also fell within the land allocated to APWA along two major roads.
The petrol pump site was partially leased out by APWA, being the owner of the land, to then PNO through an agreement signed in early 1970 by then APWA Karachi president Begum Razia Muhammad Ali, wife of the then prime minister, and a representative of the oil company. According to the agreement, to which was attached a schedule (A), the oil company was given 1,250 square yards on a 30-year lease to build a petrol service station.
After the first agreement ended, the APWA Karachi, through its chairperson, Sajida Khanum Soomro, renewed the lease of the land in favour of the PSO (formerly PNO) for another 30 years. The agreement signed in June 2002 included a schedule in which the land’s size was described as 2,500 square yards.
However, in contrast to the agreement of 1970, the new lease documents do not mention the exact length and width of the plot.
The General Secretary of APWA, Yasmin Dastoor, said APWA had no control over the land, 25 acre, allotted to the Karachi chapter in 1960 since the nationalization of APWA Girls College, except the small petrol pump land which was under the use of the petrol service station. This portion measured 1,250 square yards.
She said it was in her knowledge that the Karachi chapter of APWA had entered into a new agreement with the PSO. She said the basic points of the new agreement were the same as those in the earlier one, except the change in the rental value of the plot and mode of payment.
The Executive District Officer (Education), Anwar Ahmed Zai, said the PSO station at Karimabad had begun construction on education department’s land without any authority. The previous limits, as spelled out in the first agreement, had been demolished and new concrete walls were being raised on the land which was in the possession of the city government’s education department.
The encroached land was a government property and was automatically transferred to the provincial government with the nationalization of the APWA college, said another official of the department, adding the chairman of the Chief Minister’s Inspection and Evaluation Team had taken cognizance of the illegal development and had urged the Karachi nazim to look into the matter and get the land vacated.
Government circles said since APWA had the possession of only about 11,000-12,000 square feet of the petrol pump site at the time of nationalization of the APWA college, it had no right to increase the size of the plot in the new agreement. The city nazim and the town nazim had been informed of the development, and an FIR had also been lodged against the encroachers, claimed the official.
Zafar Hussain Faridi, who claimed to be the PSO dealer for Zak Super Service Station, Karimabad, said he had been associated with the project since its inception. The first construction plan was approved and NOC for a petrol pump was acquired about 35 years back.
“We have been able to use about 1,300-1,400 square yards of land for petrol pumps. Under the new agreement and plan of the oil company, the service station is being expanded to an area of 2,500 square yards,” he added. However, he hastened to add that the construction plan was yet to be approved by the KBCA.
He said as the attorney of the oil company he was justified in increasing the construction area as against what existed in 1970.
“I have met the DCO and the Karachi Building Control Authority chief and other government officials and have convinced them in favour of the oil retail outlet,” he said.
When contacted on Friday evening, the City Nazim, Naimatullah Khan, said he had asked the Gulberg town nazim to take action against the encroachers, and he was surprised to hear that the petrol service station’s owner had continued with the alleged illegal construction work.
Those living in the locality said the encroachment was not possible without the connivance of the city government’s land department and the KBCA. If the authorities believed that government land had been encroached upon, then why the land department was not taking notice of the situation, and the KBCA should also move against the encroacher, especially when it had not approved any new plan for the petrol service station.
The nazim of Gulberg Town, Farooq Naimatullah, told Dawn on Saturday evening that some action against the illegal construction was taken on Friday.
It was further learnt that the PSO had written a letter to the DCO Karachi seeking his intervention in the matter. The DCO has been apprised that “the expansion work is legal under the new lease agreement and the company and its dealers should be given protection as certain elements, including extortionists, are putting pressure on them to stop the work,” said Mr Zafar.