Losing home in the land of the lost!

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  • Slum dwellers should be provided with alternate residing place prior to demolishing houses, says petitioners’ counsel
  • IHC summons Interior Ministry secretary, CDA chairman, Islamabad IG on April 16

Islamabad High Court (IHC) Thursday summoned Interior Ministry secretary, Capital Development Authority (CDA) chairman and Islamabad Police inspector general on April 16, on a plea seeking direction against removal of katchi abadis established in the federal capital.

A single member bench comprising Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui issued the directives while hearing a plea filed several by residents of kachi abadis through their lawyer Farrukh Daal against order of removal of slum areas from capital.

The court also summoned Islamabad chief commissioner and sought a report on the mechanism and steps taken so far for the removal of kachi abadis from Islamabad.

During the course of hearing, counsel for petitioner, Farrukh Daal apprised the bench that the decision of authorities to remove slum areas from capital was against the Constitution. He argued that according to the National Housing Policy of 2001, the slum dwellers had to be provided with an alternate residing place prior to demolishing the slums.

IHC on February 7 had directed CDA to remove illegal katchi abadis established in the federal capital.