Land lease of 70 Malir villages cancelled

Karachi
The Sindh chief minister on Saturday ordered the cancellation of land lease of 70 villages in District Malir, citing unfulfilled legal prerequisites as the reason.
The move comes a day after Qaim Ali Shah cancelled the allotment to the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) of more than 300 acres of land recently reclaimed from the Malir River bed.
A statement issued by the CM House late on Saturday evening said that as per the law, only land falling under villages that have been in existence before the year 2000 could be leased by the government.
Therefore, the villages which have come into existence after 2000 could not legally be leased.
As per the communique, Shah has directed the Malir deputy commissioner to conduct a proper survey of the land of these 70 villages and, which ever village does not fulfil the binding legal requirements, would again be awarded a lease by the government.

Malir River land
The Sindh government has cancelled the allotment to the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) of more than 300 acres of land recently reclaimed from the Malir River bed near the Korangi area and adjacent to the Defence Housing Authority (DHA).
A spokesperson for Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah said on Friday the provincial executive had ordered the authorities to cancel the allotment of the land.
He said the KMC had failed to fulfil the legal conditions under which the reclaimed land had been leased out to it.
Earlier, similar cancellation directives had been issued by the chief minister for the land that could had been used for developing a housing society for members of the Sindh Assembly and Karachi-based journalists.
Sources privy to the development said the cancellation of the allotment had been ordered as the KMC intended to auction plots to members of the public and investors for commercial gains.
The Sindh Assembly had been informed earlier this year that the government had identified over 200 acres of land, which could had been easily reclaimed from the Malir River bed to use it for residential or industrial purposes without posing any hindrance to the natural flow of rainwater and sewage into the Arabian Sea.
Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Environment Dr Sikandar Ali Mandhro had informed the provincial assembly that the contract was being given to a local company having a good reputation at a cost of Rs2.689 billion after conducting a proper tendering process for reclaiming the Malir River land.
He had said a proper research over three years had been done, which indicated that some 213 acres could have been easily carved out from the river bed.
He had added that the NESPAK (National Engineering Services Pakistan Ltd); the Irrigation Research Institute, Nandipur; and the National Institute of Oceanography had been involved in the research process.