‘The land is yours if your vote is ours’

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

LAHORE - The Punjab government has finally rolled the dice to give ownership rights to the residents of 154 registered ‘katchi abadis’ (shanties) in Lahore Development Authority-controlled areas to heighten its popularity graph ahead of elections.
The registration process has been facing delay since 2008 and with few months left in the general elections, the government had decided to cash in to the opportunity and has decided to give ownership rights to the residents of ‘katchi abadis’.
On the directive of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, LDA DG Abdul Jabbar Shaheen has directed the residents of ‘katchi abadis’ to contacts the Directorate of Katchi Abadis, LDA, to get proprietary rights of their housing units.
According to data, there are 154 registered ‘katchi abadis’ containing 38,000 housing units. Of these, 10,000 housing units have been granted ownership rights already during last decade while the remaining 28,000 are still to be approved. Till 1996, there were 145 registered ‘katchi abadis’ in LDA-governed area. Addition of eight more ‘katchi abadis’ after 1996 has now brought the tally to 154.
LDA senior official said another reason behind the move was to generate additional revenue as people will have to pay for get the ownership rights for their houses. LDA has already approved independent building regulations for ‘katchi abadis’, he added.
The move came in pursuance of directions of federal government. Initially, Punjab government had set off a comprehensive survey of all registered and unregistered ‘katchi abaids’ (slum localities) on August 20.
Senior official of Punjab Local Government Department told Pakistan Today that Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on June 30 directed that data be collected and surveys be carried out in ‘katchi abadis’ all over the country.
Attending a cabinet session at the PM Secretariat, PM Gilani directed the Local Government Ministry to work out an action plan to systemise the development work and regularise the ‘katchi abadis’ present countrywide.
He said the survey was given a go ahead after the Punjab Assembly (PA) passed the Punjab Katchi Abadis (Amendment) Bill 2009. “Under the Katchi Abadis Bill, amendments have been made in sections 2, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 9 of Act VIII of 1992. Under the amendment in Section 5, the government will form an implementation committee for a district in which a katchi abadi is located. Under Section 6, “March 23 1985” has been replaced with “December 31, 2006,” he added.