The affectees of Sector-G/14 are stilling waiting for the Build-Up Property Award despite the lapse of nine years – thanks to the delaying tactics of Government Employees Housing Foundation (GEHF). Sources in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) told Pakistan Today that the GEHF was supposed to provide complete survey lists of affectees claims to the ICT on August 25 but it failed to do so.
In 2002, Ministry of Housing purchased 4,000 kanal of land from the Capital Development Authority (CDA). The structure of the houses and buildings that were present at the time of award of acquisition of land for developing G/14 had been tagged as BUP Award. On Wednesday, a group of affectees visited the Islamabad Deputy Commissioner (DC) Amir Ahmed Ali and shared their concerns pertaining to the delay in the process of BUP Award acquisition.
The sources said that affectees told the DC that some high-ups of GEHF, in connivance with additional deputy commissioner (Revenue) of the ICT, were employing delaying tactics in that regard. The sources said that the DC assured the affecttees that no slackness would be tolerated by the Revenue and Acquisition Offices of the ICT.
Back in 2008, the ICT administration helped the foundation by clearing 2,400 kanals of land out of total 4,000 kanals of lands. Later on, however, the FGHF paid no attention towards the issue and resultantly land grabbers encroached upon a large piece of land. The source said that the cost of BUP Award in Sector-G-14 had gone up from Rs 2 billion to almost Rs 7 billion because of illegal occupation.
When contacted, the DC confirmed his meeting with the affected people. He told this scribe that in order to make the BUP Award process transparent, he directed land acquisition collector to make all payments to all the land owners in Sector-G/14 and G/15. He said the officers concerned had been asked to computerise all the relevant record, so that the affected people could see the progress.
59pc water samples found unsafe in twin cities: Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) revealed on Wednesday that 59% water samples had been found unsafe in federal capital and only 41% of water samples were found safe for drinking.
The organisation collected 150 water samples from villages of all the union councils and found that 40% samples were contaminated with coliforms, 33% with nitrate (as N) and 11% samples had higher level of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) when compared with Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority(PSQCA) standards. To analyse the water quality in Rawalpindi, 1125 water samples from villages of all the union councils were collected and analysed and it was found that that 73% water samples were contaminated with coliforms, 29% with Nitrate and 15% with TDS. According to available data, 83% water samples were found unsafe and only 17% rural areas of Rawalpindi were getting safe water.
The global water shortage of affordable and safe drinking water is manifested in Pakistan with an estimated 44% of the population without access to safe drinking water. Official sources in PCRWR told the APP that 90% of the population in rural areas lacked access to safe drinking water. While indicating the intensity of the problem, sources said about 200,000 children in Pakistan die every year of diarrheal diseases alone. Pakistan was a water rich country just a few decades ago; however a recent World Bank report stated that Pakistan was now among the 17 countries that were facing water shortage. APP
