The ‘China cutting’ in influential suburbs of the capital has made countless headlines and raised many eyebrows last year as influential mafia backing the practice plagued Islamabad with amenity plots earmarked for parks, schools and playgrounds being resized to commercial and residential plots.
Capital Development Authority (CDA) acting chairman Shahrukh Nusrat in a recent meeting has approved the formation of an exclusive task force to put an end to ‘China cutting’ in Islamabad and ordered to take an across-the-board action against those involved in this practice. Nusrat also ordered to demolish all illegal construction on the plots and sites that come under this description.
Last year, the China cutting scandals surfaced in areas adjacent to Rawal Dam and sectors that are still being developed by the CDA. The practice of China cutting means resizing and cutting up plots designated for providing amenities to public at large into residential and commercial plots, changing the title of land in order to mint money.
State Minister for Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) Tariq Fazal Chaudhry and Public Accounts Committee Chairman Syed Khursheed Shah, in recent months, have taken notice about the infamous practice and ordered inquiries to be held in this regard.
This practice is not only limited to areas near Rawal Dam, as Sectors G-13 and E-11 are also victim of China cutting. Since Sectors G-13 and E-11 do not come under CDA’s jurisdiction, the land grabbers and encroachers had their heyday. Taking advantage of the lack of regulation and building control, many parks and playgrounds in these sectors have been converted into residential or commercial plots.
“The Sector E-11 has multiple private housing societies, including National Police Foundation, Multi Professional Cooperative Housing Society, Federal Employees Cooperative Housing Society and Pakistan Medical Cooperative Housing Society. Each society has its own infrastructure maintenance system in place. Since the CDA’s by-laws are less stringent in this vicinity, the violations are many. One can see the encroachments while entering the sector. People have now built whole plazas on land meant for amenities. This is about time that an action should be taken in this regard or else E-11 will be rife with illegal and dangerous constructions,” said Uzair Rasool, an architect and resident of E-11.
Recently, the CDA’s acting chairman also ordered a probe into the matter of land swap in Sector E-11 from year 2009 to 2013 and bringing to the fore the beneficiaries of these transactions.