Lahore – The Matrooka Waqf Imlaak Board and other government departments have stopped proceedings on No-objection Certificates (NOCs) for some 566 registered Kachi Abadis in Punjab.
The board’s 510 Kachi Abadis and another 56 had applied for ownership of their land and sought NOCs from the Ministry of Defense, Pakistan Railways, District Coordination Office (DCO), Immigration & Passports, Forest Department, Communication & Works, Lahore Development Authority, Livestock Department, Housing Department, Muslim Auqaf, Agriculture Department, and the Department of Fisheries.
The applications received some attention before the general elections and upon the release of the schedule for the local government elections, but the matter was deferred as soon as the schedule for the local government elections was cancelled.
In Lahore alone, there are 132 Kachi Abadis on Auqaf Department’s land that have not been regularised because NOCs have not been issued, along with seven other Kachi Abadis on land belonging to various departments. These include Kachi Abadis in Jallo, Muslim Colony in Faisal Park, Zia Colony in Township, Warispura in Shahdara, Kot Muhammad Hussain, C Block Johar Town, and Peter Gil Colony.
Residents of Kachi Abadis in Bahawalnagar, Lodhran, Okara, Hafizabad, Kasur, Mandi Bahauddin, Sialkot, Faisalabad, Sheikhupura, DG Khan, Mianwali, Sargodha, and Bhakkar also await the fulfilment of promises made before the general elections.
