Lahore: Land grabbers active in Johar Town

[Naveed Yaseen]

AS the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) ‘halted’ its drive against encroachments in its scheme areas, the persons involved in land grabbing restarted their activities in several areas, especially Johar Town.

Former Chief Minister Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif has given a full mandate to the LDA to carry out operations against encroachers in its scheme areas but after Mian Shahbaz Sharif was sent home by the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the authority stopped its operation. Resultantly, land grabbers restarted their ‘activities’ in various city areas, especially Johar Town. Residents of Johar Town E-Block on Tuesday also staged a protest demonstration in the area against land grabbing and said LDA vacated several plots in E-Block of Johar Town during its drive but for the past two days those plots were again encroached. Rana Ikram, a local resident, said the LDA authorities were also informed regarding the issue but no action had been initiated so far. He claimed that ‘unknown’ people had constructed temporary houses and huts on several plots in the area.

On the other hand, LDA officials said the crackdown against land grabbers was not stopped and on Tuesday the staff of the Estate Management Directorate, Quaid-i-Azam Town of LDA, retrieved a precious three-kanal piece of land. They said the said plot was situated close to the graveyard in Block-9, Township area.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=165604