Chitral admin hands in glove with land mafia?
Report GH Farooqui
CHITRAL: The construction of shops and other structures on state land right under the nose of the government departments concerned in the heart of the Chitral town has baffled the residents but failed to move the officials concerned to stop it.
More intriguingly, the land mafia has started the illegal construction after demolishing the remnants of a historical bridge built over 90 years ago.
During a visit to the site, the residents of the area and traders in the bazaar told this scribe that in 1923 a suspension bridge was built by the British government of India over the local stream. The famous Attaliq Bridge was later built on one side of the bridge while on the other side a new bridge was constructed under Abdul Wali Khan bypass road project a few years ago. However, the pillars and plaque of the British era bridge were still visible at the site, reminiscing the residents of the old passageway.
Strangely, however, over two weeks ago, Akbar Hussain alias Toti, a resident of Goldur, and an other person demolished the remnants of the old bridge on both sides of the stream and started building shops on the state land without any check by the department concerned. Akbar Hussain started construction of shops at North side of bridge while an other person constructing on south side.
The area people expressed their surprise why none of the departments concerned, including the revenue department, communication and work department or the district administration, have taken notice of the illegal activity so far.
Talking to this scribe, Mr Rehmat, an old resident of the area, said he was very shocked to see the old bridge gone. He said the bridge was our cultural and historical asset and its demolition in the hands of the land mafia was condemnable. He said without the connivance of the government departments it would not be possible for anyone to first dismantle such a historical bridge and then start constructing shops on the state land.
When this correspondent contacted the executive engineer of the C&W department, Maqbool Azam, he expressed his ignorance about the construction of the shops on the state land. However, he said the construction of the shops was an encroachment on the state land. Mr Azam said it was the responsibility of the revenue department to get the land retrieved from the encroachers.
The builders of the illegal shops, who were present at the site, claimed that he had bought the land but he could not produce any deed nor named the seller of the property.
People here called upon the government to immediately probe the matter and take action against the builder and officials concerned for their negligence in protecting the state land.
Gul Hamaad Farooqi C/O Manager bank Islami Main branch Chitral Pakistan phone No (0092) 0943-320737, 0943-316052, 0943-414418 ,03205989602, 03025989602, 03337069572, 03159698446, 03469002167
email: gulhamad@gmail.com,ghfarooqi@rediffmail.com, gulhamaad786@yahoo.co.uk,ghfarooqi@rediffmail.com,gulhamadfarooqui@outlook.com
land mafia
