Sindh govt cancels allotment of 20,000 acres of land

ISLAMABAD: In its recent drive against cases of the illegal doling out of state land, the Sindh government has cancelled almost 20,000 acres of such allotments.
Provincial government sources said the cancelled land included illegal allotments made by the authorities both in Karachi and other parts of the province.Details show that the allotment of 8,579 acres leased out to different individuals for 30 years stands cancelled. Almost 3,000 acres of land given to 70 urban villages has also been cancelled.
In another category, approval in 24 cases involving 5,910 acres of land of the Malir riverbed have also been rescinded. Allotments made in 332 cases involving around 1,252 acres of land by misusing the Section 17 of the Colonisation of Government Land Act 1912 also stand cancelled.
In seven cases, a total of 287 acres of land was allotted on the recommendation of a regularisation committee. This allotment has also been withdrawn. In 22 cases allotment of 523 acres has been cancelled after the authorities found violations of terms and conditions.
Following the anti-corruption drive of the federal authorities, including the Rangers, NAB and FIA in Karachi, the Sindh Board of Revenue had recently sought the cancellation of all illegal allotments of land made in the past.
On the recommendation of the Sindh Land Utilisation Department, the chief minister approved the proposals for undoing the allotment of thousands of precious government lands doled out to influential persons and favourites during these years.
The provincial Board of Revenue had also recommended the abolition of its own Overseeing Committee that was made under Senior Member Board of Revenue (SMBR) in 2010 to approve the cases of land allotment in the name of exchange of land.
It was believed that during all these years, Section 17 of Colonisation of Government Land Act 1912, in particular, was massively misused to the advantage of influential allottees both by the SMBR Overseeing Committee and the deputy commissioners in almost all the districts of the province.
The Section 17 of the Act allows deputy commissioners to exchange land on the request of a tenant. However, to the benefit of influential people and favourites, tens of thousands of acres of precious government land have been allotted since 2010.
However, the details of the cancelled land show that in this particular category, only 1,252 acres of land has been cancelled.Sources said that the Sindh Board of Revenue should again focus on the allotments made under Section 17 of the Colonisation of Government Land Act 1912. It is believed that many deputy commissioners have not cancelled the allotment of lands made in violation of the law to influential figures in the province.
It is said in most cases the deputy commissioners didn’t even bother to engage the provincial Board of Revenue or even the Oversee Committee of the SMBR while making these allotments. Owing to this practice, there was no idea even to the Board of Revenue of the exact quantum of the government land involved.
Meanwhile, the sources said the Land Utilisation Department had also requested Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah to cancel the land allotted to Dr Asim Hussain. Though several weeks have passed, the chief minister has not yet approved the summary.