Sindh Assembly presses for regularisation of katchi abadis under federal control

[Naveed Yaseen]

By Razzak Abro
KARACHI: The Sindh Assembly passed a resolution on Wednesday that demanded the federal government give permission for the regularisation of katchi abadis situated on land that is under the control of different federal government agencies such as the Karachi Port Trust and Pakistan Railways.

Sindh Minister for Katchi Abadis Rafiq Engineer moved the resolution that the house passed unanimously. Some of the members, especially those belonging to the MQM, expressed their reservations about the resolution, claiming that the land was actually the property of the provincial government and not the federal agencies. None of them, however, opposed the resolution.

The resolution states, “This assembly resolves and recommends to the Government of Sindh to approach the Federal Government of Pakistan to issue directives for NOC (No Objection Certificate) regarding the regularisation of katchi abadis in the province by the federal agencies such as the Karachi Port Trust, Railway authorities and Evacuee Trust Properties Board, who are creating impediments due to which, economic and social development programmes of the province are being affected.”

MQM’s parliamentary leader in the Sindh Assembly, Sardar Ahmed said that, legally, the Pakistan Railways (PR) was occupying land that is owned by the Sindh government. According to him, the Sindh government had provided the land to the federal agencies for operational purposes and, according to the rules, the PR was supposed to surrender the land not in use. Ahmed was of the opinion that the provincial government should not seek an NOC from the federal agencies when the provincial government itself owns the land.

He stated that unfortunately, the PR is going to sell some of the land and an advertisement has also been published in newspapers in this regard. PPP’s Bachal Shah and Humera Alwani also supported Ahmed’s viewpoint.

MQM Deputy Parliamentary Leader Faisal Sabzwari and MQM Provincial Minister Shoaib Bukhari expressed their reservations over the resolution, stating that the federal government is planning to revive the Karachi Circular Railway and regularisation of some of the katchi abadis situated on the PR land could affect the project.

The house also passed three other resolutions unanimously. One of them was for commemorating Earth Day, tabled by Sindh Information Minister Shazia Marri. The resolution stated, “This assembly commemorates today as Earth Day and, on this day, it recognises the dangers of the greenhouse effect, reiterates its commitment to following environmentally friendly policies, reaffirms its support of the Kyoto Protocol on climate change and pledges to maximise endeavors to minimise climate change for sustainable development and to save the delta of Sindh from further devastation.”

The second resolution was moved by PPP MPA Haji Munawar Ali Abbasi and pertained to agriculture loans. The assembly sought the disbursement of fresh agriculture loans by financial institutions to growers belonging to calamity-hit areas of paddy cultivation.

The third resolution that was unanimously passed by the house was tabled by member of the ruling PPP, Sharjeel Memon. The resolution recommended the establishment of a complaint cell in each government department. Surprisingly, the house unanimously passed the resolution without keeping in view that a public complaint cell was already functioning at the Sindh Chief Minister’s House.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...009_pg12_3