From the title one may get the idea that the cottage industry of the villagers is at stake but in truth something more sinister sneaks around the 42 villages whose people are inhabited there for centuries. If read closely, the following article shall explain to you that how the mysterious Nawaz-China deal will deprive the 42 villages from their land and that shall be done by your money! Yes the money of the tax paying, law abiding, sleeping patriots of Pakistan.
A few weeks ago, CDA Board gave approval for the establishment of a development company, Pakistan Avenue Development Limited, on the direct approval of the Prime Minister of Pakistan himself, after a certain issue had been brought into the meeting of the CDA board.
What the nation should be concerned about is what would be the precise function of the development company which was established on the direct approval of The Prime Minister himself and what will it do in the development of the country?
Before those concerns are answered one must get illuminated about the latest news which states that the Capital Development Authority (CDA) has initiated the acquiring of 25,000 acres of land for the establishment of an Economic and Multipurpose Zone at public expense! The acquiring of land which is said to be equal to 42 villages of Rawalpindi and it shall cost a sum greater than Rs70 billion to the governing authorities.
Now if one was careful enough to read a specific notification issued in the Punjab Gazette on August 15, 2013, as an expert of Zameen.com was, it shall be sublimely illuminated the precise function of Pakistan Avenue Development Limited. An extract of exact statement of the notification is as follows:
“Whereas it appears to the collector of District Rawalpindi that land is likely to be taken by the Capital Development Authority (Chairman’s Secretariat), Islamabad, through its company—“Pakistan Avenue Development Limited”— for public purpose, namely, for the Establishment of Economic and Multi-purpose Zone at public expense. It is hereby notified that the land described below is likely to be acquired for the said purpose.”
So if that is the role which the limited company is supposed to play let me bring some concerning matters to the kind interest of the public on whose expense the project is to be executed. The mere development of this scale would require money twice the entire budget of the CDA and the land is known to be acquired mostly from centuries old villages on the suburbs of Rawalpindi. Now a point of concern for the readers, even if CDA offers Rs 1 Lakh per Kanal then it would require Rs20 billion to procure the land, while the compensation on already constructed structures have not been included in the estimation. Furthermore it would require billions just to get the land levelled for any economic activity which will be taken from your money of course and the best part is, we still don’t know what the multi-purpose zone would actually have!
It is quite mystifying if you would consider the fact that CDA which has, so far, been unable to develop a single sector in many years in past is embarking on an adventure of an economic and a multi-purpose zone which would require such a staggering amount of money which exceeds twice the budget of CDA itself.
According to reliable sources it is believed that the recently struck deals with Chinese and the government is actually fuelling the acquisition of the land. And the villages whose land is going to be utilised for the project include 6,161 kanals in Khasala Khurd; 1,056 in Dhala; 15,162 in Takht Peri; 8,449 in Mian Ahmada; 1,579 in Maira Kinger/ Maira Khurd; 5006 in Jabber Miana; 8,165 in Taraiya; 2,567 in Pind Chatla; 1,606 in Dera; 783 in Morha Phapra; 14,123 in Gangal; 5,342 in Adiala; 8,483 in Dhapai; 2,374 in Chahan; 1,151 in Maira Kalan; 11,815 in Nakrali; 4,553 in Chak Khas; 9,467 in Ghandiya; 6157in Gogra; 9, 762 in Katariaan and 10,487 in Thatta Gidpur.
Interestingly, it was unveiled by a government official who happens to be a close friend of mine that in the month of Ramadan, the staff on Land Revenue Division was secretly called in the office of the district collector and were instructed to submit the details of the land in the discussed 42 villages. Furthermore from the other side housing societies parallel to these 42 villages are purchasing land for Rs250,000 to Rs300,000 in the bait that CDA has plans to offer 10 per cent of the market rate to the land owners which would result in litigation on a mass scale. The villagers are somehow taken out of the picture completely as they never had the slightest bit of hint that they would be soon told to pack up and leave with a meagre amount of money in their hands.
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This article should be translated in to Urdu and must be published in Jang or Dunya.
I want to know all information about Chinese economic zone.
You cannot build cities in the sky. To build them, you need land. If the villagers will be compensated then how is this a conspiracy or controversy? My dear, our cities are being engulfed by katchi abadis. We need to desperately expand our cities.