Residents protest against DHA expansion

[Salman]

BAHAWALPUR:
Residents of Chak 12/BC staged a protest in front of the Press Club against the Bahawalpur DHA’s administration. They said that the district and DHA administrations had started razing constructions and clearing fields in their area without issuing them a notice in this regard.

Scores of protesters carried banners and placards and shouted slogans against the DHA administration.

Mujib ur Rehman, one of the protesters, said they had leased land in Chak 12/BC for 35 years from the Treasury Department five years ago. “This area used to have nothing but sand dunes at that time.”

Shabbir Ahmad, another protester, said they had worked day and night to level the land and make it cultivatable. When the DHA announced a housing scheme in Bahawalpur, the land they were living on was included in it. Ahmad said they had gone to court and obtained a stay order against evacuation from Chak 12/BC. He said the court had summoned district administration officials to court for arguments however, no one had turned up. Thus, the stay order remained uncontested, he said.

Nazeed Ahmad, another protester, said the DHA had started razing their crops and structures on the land. “We were not issued a notice nor given prior intimation that the DHA was moving in.” They requested the chief justice, the chief of army staff and the chief minister to intervene. “The livelihood of a lot of families is connected with the land,” Ahmad said. When contacted, the spokesperson from DCO’s office refused to comment on the matter.