WAF condemns use of force to get slum vacated

PESHAWAR: The Women Action Forum, Peshawar chapter, has flayed the recent use of force by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to evict the poor people from a slum in Islamabad.
The condemnation came at the WAF Peshawar chapter members meeting, said a press release.
The participants said the CDA did not follow rules when it bulldozed katchi abadis or slum in Sector 1-11 of the federal capital.
They said armed cops, paramilitary personnel and heavy machinery were used by the administration against slum dwellers who came from highly poor and deprived segments of the society and had been living there since long for lack of resources.
The participants deplored that several women and children suffered injuries when the CDA resorted to heavy-handed method to get the land vacated from the poor and demolish the mud-built houses. They said it was strange that the residents were served with notices to vacate the dwellings only within three days.
The participants said the proper compensation and relocation plans were required under the law in case of such actions but these were absent when the administration moved into slum in Islamabad called Afghan Basti.
The participants said the CDA had a master plan for developing Islamabad but it contained noting for the poor who had no resources to construct own houses and were thus forced to live in katchi abadis.
The WAF urged the National Commission for Human Rights to investigate police brutality against residents of the Afghan Basti.
The WAF members asked the government to consider the low-cost affordable residential facilities for the poor segments of the society before employing tough actions against the have-nots to evict them from slums.