The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has admitted before the Islamabad High Court that Bahria Town has encroached around 1200 kanals of land near the Kurri village. The land is worth over Rs7 billion.
It was revealed by a CDA counsel during the hearing of a public interest litigation filed by Barrister Jahangir Khan Jadoon in May this year.
The petition sought removal of encroachments from both residential and commercial areas of Islamabad. Therefore, another petition was filed against encroachments made by Bahria Town on 1200 kanals owned by the CDA on which the Bahria Town management is developing Bahria Enclave.
According to the petition, the society has sold a large piece of encroached land to a number of buyers. The petitioner expressed that in connivance with the CDA officials, the Bahria Town management will create the original land record.
The CDA launched its Park Enclave one day before Bahria Enclave project in the same area. There was no direct access to Bahria Enclave but CDA director general allegedly provided the society access from the Park Road. CDA counsel Nazir Jawad admitted that the land had been encroached upon by Bahria Town. However, the civic authority had issued several notices for the removal of the encroachments.
Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui expressed his concern over CDA’s inability to retrieve the land. He said that instead of retrieving its land from Bahria Town, the CDA was facilitating the Bahria Town management in developing its enclave. “CDA director general Ghulam Sarwar Sandhu had also built roads for the private society and it appears that he is not an officer of CDA but a town planner of Bahria Town,” the judge remarked.
The encroachment cannot be removed until the commission of the mafia is stopped.
