Deadline to vacate QAU land voluntarily expires

ISLAMABAD: Operation against encroachments is entering the next phase from Thursday as the notice period given to illegal occupants of Quaid-i-Azam University land by district administration and Capital Development Authority expires Wednesday night.

The authorities had been removing fields and fences cultivated and erected by villagers of different abadis at QAU area in the past few days and also had given notices to dwellers to vacate their houses and remove their belongings by 9th of January. If the dwellers do not vacate the area voluntarily, the authorities may forcibly remove them.

In the meantime, many villagers had partially or fully left the villages and others are in the process of doing so.

The university was allotted 1709 acres of land in late 1960s for which QAU had already paid the price to the CDA. The civic body had paid the compensation to the villagers at that time but did not force them to leave the area. Now their next generations say that their parents and their grandparents had been compensated but they have no place to shift to and again demand compensation.

Vice-Chancellor Dr Muhammad Ali in the meantime has written a letter to the CDA Chairman, asking the civic body to arrange some area for temporary accommodation of villagers leaving the QAU.

The university needs its land vacated for its expansion programme. The cattle maintained by villagers within university and in nearby localities roam around freely at the Campus and damage its plants and trees and pollute the area. Much of the activities of Horticulture Cell are neutralised by the cattle attack. The security problem also arises at times due to illegal settlements at the university territory. The presence of outsiders also creates difficulties for 50 per cent girl students of the university.

The university is in the process of developing the Campus and needs more hostels and academic blocks for its expansion programme. The villagers had resisted when the QAU wanted to construct hostels and buildings for Faculty of Biological Sciences in the past. The Alumni Association and Academic Staff Association of the QAU are fully backing the anti-encroachment drive. Most of employees except a few living in the illegal abadis are also supporting the drive to clean the university of illegal constructions.