HYDERABAD, Feb 22: The residents of Yar Mohammad Mallah village, Latifabad-11, have deplored demolition of their houses by a builder under the patronage of the Latifabad Mukhtiarkar and appealed to the authority for justice.

Speaking at a news conference at the press club here on Thursday, Yar Mohammad Mallah, Mohammad Shafi Mallah and others said that village was founded in 1936 and its land was the property of the villagers who possessed documentary evidence to prove their ownership.

They alleged that Mukhtiarkar Rashid Siddiqui and employees of Arif Builders came to the village on Wednesday evening and demolished about one dozen houses. They said that they were not served any notice by the Mukhtiarkar or any other authority.

The villagers said that when they showed the documents to the Mukhtiarkar, the demolition was stopped but they were warned that if they did not voluntarily vacate the village, they would be ejected by force.

They appealed to the authorities to intervene and save their homes.

Answering questions, they said that the village was spread over about seven acres of land and had 118 houses. They said that the villagers were given proprietary rights in 1990 under the Goth Abad Scheme.

They said that an attempt was made in 2006 to demolish their houses but the operation was stopped at the intervention of Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain.

4-YEAR DEGREE: The Sindh University authorities have constituted a 10-member committee to select affiliated degree colleges for launching a 4-year degree programme under semester system there.

The registrar, after the approval by the vice-chancellor, has issued a notification in this regard.

The committee, headed by Dr Khuhawar, will visit the colleges and examine available facilities.