Greenbelts to be cleared of ‘occupants’

Islamabad : Given the security issues the local administration is considering a proposal to clear greenbelts from homeless people who sleep there during night time due to rising house rents in the capital city.

According to the details, the administration had earlier planned to take action in the summer season against those who were making makeshift arrangements for night stay in greenbelts but it shelved the plan for quite some time.

Now it has again started reviewing the proposal and taking input from other relevant departments. Most of them who have been using greenbelts for night stay are laborers who work in the construction projects.

The inflow of people to Islamabad seeking employment opportunities has increased manifold in last few years and many of them lack financial resources to afford high rents in the capital city.

The number of ‘katchi abadis’ has also increased in Islamabad where thousands of inmates are residing but they are now no more able to accommodate more people. Most of the male and female population in these slums is employed as sanitary workers, guards and cleaners in the civic agency and as well as in nearby households.

An official said “First we want to consult the issue with builders because they should provide accommodation to the laborers who work in their projects. So if there is some kind of development then many of homeless laborers will be accommodated by the builders.”

He said “The Capital Development Authority (CDA) is committed to complying with its entrusted mandate as per the CDA Ordinance of 1960 and upholding of its master plan in all circumstances.”

“The security of the city is one of the top priorities so we intend to address this issue without creating any kind of mess. The inflow of people from other cities should also be reduced by generating job opportunities at their hometowns,” he said.