Officials told to remove encroachments, stop allotments in Gutter Baghicha

The Sindh government has ordered the cancellation of illegal allotments and removal of encroachments in the Gutter Baghicha area and warned all officials against approving any new allotments at the site.

The municipal commissioner, Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) and the deputy commissioner for District West – through a letter from the deputy secretary of the Sindh Local Government and Housing Town Planning Department – have been directed to take action against illegal and unauthorised possession of land in the Gutter Baghicha area. “The illegal allotments already made in violation of the rules and procedure may be cancelled and, if any allotment has been made legally, then justification may be provided,” the officials were advised in the letter.

The KMC or any other authority, as per the letter, shall not approve any new allotments in Gutter Baghicha and that proper action as per law should be taken if land grabbers illegally occupy any plot in the locality.  The directives were appreciated by an organisation that had lodged complaints with the local government department over the issue of illegal allotments in the Gutter Baghicha area.

 In a statement issued on Friday, the Sindh Shahri Federation's General Secretary Tahir Sawati said they had lodged complaints with concrete proofs to the local government secretary and other authorities concerned and had demanded action against land grabbers.