ISLAMABAD: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) is all set to start development work in the stalled Kuri Model Village and for the first time will also issue bar codes on files of the land-affected people to avoid fraudulent allotments.

The CDA seems in action following directions from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in September this year to start the development work within one month.

A team headed by Member Estate Tariq Salam and comprising deputy director general planning (DDG) Arshad Chohan, DDG enforcement Shah Jahan, Deputy Commissioner Sardar Asif and others visited the area to identify built-up property cases.

Now, CDA will submit a report to IHC on Tuesday, informing it about the steps being taken for early start of issuing allotment letters and development work.

Process expedited on project after directions from IHC in September

Sources said the CDA had acquired land for the development of the model village decades ago but after announcing the land award no serious step was taken for its development. The model village will be set up on over 32,00 acres in Kuri, Majohan and Rehara revenue estates. The area falls in Zone IV.

The sources said that the CDA management had decided that the development work will be carried out in phases and in the first phase work will be carried out in revenue estate of Kuri, which has four proposed blocks (A to D).

Meanwhile, CDA Chairman Anwarul Haq on Thursday directed the concerned wing to minimise the role of the middlemen like property dealers and start work for issuing bar codes on plot files. All the 2700 affected people should be given their allotment letters transparently.

He said that original owners should be entertained and CDA itself should prepare their files with bar codes and hand over the allotment letters to them.

“There should be no role of mafia in allotment of this project. Our officers get salaries to help citizens. Therefore, I will not tolerate any complaints from the affected people. They should be given their allotment letters with respect,” the chairman was quoted as saying.

In September this year, the IHC after vacating all stay orders on the stalled Kuri Model Village project gave the go-ahead to the CDA to start the development work.

An official of CDA said that in 2008 the CDA had made a package deal with the villagers of Kuri under which the civic agency in 2010 announced the built-up property (BuP) award. However, some people challenged the BuP in 2013 in the IHC. He said that in 2016 the IHC while issuing a stay order had also stopped the CDA from any kind of allotment.

Similarly, he said, some other cases were also filed in the IHC.

However, a couple of moths ago, the IHC vacated all stay orders and directed the CDA to start the development work within a month.

CDA officials said all the three revenue estates of Kuri, Rehara and Majohan could provide thousands of housing units as it was equal to around four residential sectors of Islamabad.

One residential sector typically consists of 750 acres. The officials said after paying compensation and built-up property claims, the civic agency will have around 2,000 acres worth billions of rupees The CDA had acquired the land in 1968 while built-up-property award was announced in 1971. The civic agency announced a controversial revised award in 2009 amid corruption and bogus entries of built-up property that resulted in court cases and inquiries. But the civic agency did not take possession of the land by removing objections of the locals.

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2023