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Syndicate Research Report

By

Syndicate Group # 6

Katchi Abadies / Encroachments

Issues connected with regularization of Encroachment

Over State Land / especially Railway Land

A case study of Lahore District

Group Members:

Mr. Fazal Akbar (Leader)

Ms. Sadia Ali (Deputy Leader)

Mr. Mohammad Naeem

Mr. Waheed Asghar

DMG Campus, Civil Services Academy Mall Road Lahore

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Thesis Statement:

A thorough investigation into various encroachments made by people over state’s land especially

Railways Land in Lahore District and issues involved in the regularization of encroachments

OUTLINE

1) Introduction 07

A. State Land 07

B. Encroachment 07

1. Types of Encroachment 08

i. Major Encroachments 08

a. Residential Encroachments 08

b. Commercial Encroachments 08

c. Partially-Exempt Organizations 09

ii. Minor Encroachments 09

iii. Licence to Occupy Encroachments 09

2. Implications (socio-economic, political) 09

C. Katchi Abadis 10

1. Types of Katchi Abadis 10

2. Rationale of Katchi Abadis 11

2. Legal Background 12

3. Regularization of Katchi Abadis 16

1. Directorate General of Katchi Abadis Punjab 16

a) Organisational Setup 16

b) Functions 17

c) Policies/Procedures 18

d) Performance/Achievements 22

2. Directorate of Katchi Abadis, LDA 22

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a. Organisational setup 22

b. Functions 23

c. Policies/Procedures 24

d. Performance/Achievements 26

4. Katchi Abadis Management in Lahore 27

1. Historical Perspective 27

i. Evolution – 1947 onwards 27

ii. Previous Structure 28

iii. Previous Efforts Made for Removal of Encroachments 29

2. Present Structure 29

A. Lahore Development Authority (LDA) 29

I. Regulating the State’s Land 29

II. Removal of Encroachments from State’s Land 29

B. The District Government 31

I. Custodian of State’s Land 31

II. Role in Encroachment’s Removal 31

C. Railways Authority 31

i. Regulating Authority 31

ii. Administration at the District Level 32

3. State’s Land Management : Performance Evaluation 32

i. LDA policy/SOPs 32

ii. District Government’s Policy 33

iii. Railway Authority’s Policy 33

iv. Particular Examples of Existing Encroachments 34

v. Action Taken/Decision Made against Encroachment 34

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5. A Case Study 35

6. Issues Involved 41

7. Critical Analysis 48

8. Conclusion 49

9. Recommendations 49

References & Literature Review

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Executive Summary

In Pakistan, the issue of encroaching state land is prevailing since the inception of this country

when there was an influx of refugees in 1947 coming from India in large number and there was

no provision of housing for them so they occupied public land wherever they found it vacant.

Thereafter, shelterless and poor people regularly occupied state land for the purposes of dwelling

and, even after notices of eviction followed by some practical eviction steps by the concerned

departments, these people didn’t vacated such lands on the ground that they didn’t have shelters

and they need a home which is to be provided by the state.

To provide shelter to such poor people, the Govt made a policy of granting them proprietary

rights in these public lands which were occupied by them. This policy was effected through

regularization of katchi abadis. Initially, the Punjab Govt interested the task of regularization of

katchi abadis to Local Govt Department of the Punjab where a Section Officer under the

Secretary of the department was authorised to act as the regularizing authority of katchi abadis

and a cut-off date as 23rd March, 1985 was fixed for such regularization. Those katchi abadis

were entitled to be regularized which were established before this date. This department worked

upto the year 1987. In 1987, the Govt established the office of Director General Katchi Abadis

Punjab and a proper law was enacted for this purpose known as the Punjab Katchi Abadis

(Regularization & Development) Act, 1987. In 1992, this law was repealed by another law

known as the Punjab Katchi Abadis Act, 1992 and the office of DG was converted into Director

General (Katchi Abadis & Urban Improvement) Punjab thereby extending the function of the

Directorate General to urban improvement. Now, this office is working as the regularizing

authority of katchi abadis under the said law with another executing agency known as the

Director Katchi Abadis LDA.

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The regularization process is such that it necessary for the office of DG (KA & UI) Punjab to

first obtain non-objection certificate from the concerned department, to which the land in

question belongs, and then to regularize katchi abadis. This process is hindered by various issues

like non-issuance of NOCs by concerned departments, political involvement, official processing

and formalities, involvement of land mafia, price adjustments and the reluctance of autonomous

bodies to regularization of katchi abadis existing on their lands. On the other hand, the removal

of encroachments from public lands has also become very difficult due to various factors like

political involvement, collusion of official of concerned departments/authorities with

encroachers and the poor condition of people.

Literature Review

A scan of key literature was undertaken to perform analysis. This included National Legislations

such as Punjab Katchi Abadi Act 1992, Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1967, Punjab LGO

2001, LDA Act 1975, The Punjab Autonomous Bodies Immovable Property ( ejectment of

unauthorised occupants) Ordinance 1965, Pakistan Railways Police Act,1977, News Items

from different News Papers of the country, publications “Housing Issues In Urban

Development Of Pakistan” by Prof. Shabi Ul Hassan Zaidi, Urban Encroachment by IPIECA,

these publications helped the researchers to understand the history, evolution and rationale

behind the regularization of Katchi Abadis over state land. During the review process the

concerned offices were contacted for the in depth exploration of the issues and understanding of

information.

As desk review cannot substitute for direct consultations and participation of all stake holders

therefore various visit were planned to take their point of view before reaching to the conclusion.

In this regard interviews of occupants’ at Katchi Abadis of Muzang, Shadra and Jamilabad

were taken. Visits were paid to Railway Department, LESCO ( Lahore Electric Supply

Company), WASA ( Water and Sanitation Agency), LDA ( Lahore Development Authority),

and Directorate Katchi Abadis. The visits proved a source of direct and first hand information

and helped the researchers to analyse the issue.

Research Methodology Used

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In this research paper, the group has used descriptive and exploratory methodology. Studying

the types of encroachment and katchi abadis and describing regularization of katchi abadis make

our research descriptive while finding out the problems related to regularization of katchi abadis

with special reference to Railways land in Lahore is the exploratory part of our research.

Moreover, the research also includes the detailed study of various tiers of Govt which deal with

regularization of katchi abadis as well as removal of encroachment, either directly or indirectly.

Introduction

Encroachment over state land has become a major issue in Pakistan. These encroachments are on

the rise day by day and have assumed many forms. The shopkeepers have a usual practice to

keep their wares on the public roads which cause inconvenience to public traffic. Some

encroachers use to raise illegal buildings/structures on public lands that are spared for parks and

playgrounds. Sometimes these properties permanently vest in private individuals if these

individuals have longstanding possession, thereby divesting the state of its ownership. One type

of such encroachments is katchi abadis. Katchi abadis, if fulfil the minimum requirements as

provided by law, are regularised by Govt in Punjab and thus the encroachment becomes

regularised and assume a permanent structure. The dwellers then become owners of the state

land by paying certain amount of sum fixed by the Govt as price of the land which is much lesser

than the market value of the land.

A. State Land

The world state land or public land generally signifies a land owned by the Central Govt,

Provincial Govt or any Local Govt. The Govt has all ownership rights in such land. Such land

primarily belongs to public. The Govt has the right to dispose of or utilise such land in any

manner as it thinks fit. In different countries/states such public land assumes different

terminologies. For example in Canada, New Zealand and Australia which are commonwealth

states, it is called crown land, in France, it is called domaine public, in United States, it is known

as public domain or public land and in Pakistan, it is called public land or state land.

B. Encroachment

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The term encroachment is a legal term. It is defined by different dictionaries differently.

According to Webster dictionary, “an encroachment means to enter, by gradual steps or by

stealth, into the possession or right of another” or “to advance beyond the usual or proper limits”

or “an intrusion upon another person’s possession or right/infringement of rights”. Black’s Law

Dictionary defines the term encroach as, “To gain unlawfully upon the lands, property, or

authority of another”

1. Types of Encroachment

Encroachment is a general term and is of different types. For example political encroachment,

legal encroachment, environmental encroachment, landed encroachment. As here we are

concerned only with encroachments over land, so we will identify types of such encroachment. It

is of the following three major types:

i. Major Encroachment

Major encroachment is that type of encroachment which has severe repercussions with respect to

the title of the land. This is of permanent nature unless demolished. The raising of buildings over

land is an example of such encroachment. This also includes other things attached to the building

i.e. fire escapes, underground areas, steps, galleries, building walls, overhangs, porches etc.

Major encroachment is further of the following three types:

a. Residential Encroachment

When any person occupies state land illegally and raises buildings there for the purpose of

residing, it is called residential encroachment. It is a major encroachment because the

consequences ensue against ownership of the land, are severe. These encroachments usually

consist of major construction, walls, fences and/or other kinds of barriers or construction which

encircles public land for the purpose of occupation and possession. It also includes the unutilized

portion of public thoroughfare enjoined in residential building illegally.

b. Commercial Encroachment

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When any person illegally occupies public land for the purpose of running a business, whether

small or large, it is called commercial encroachment. These are usually made on the public roads

or highways where customers can have easy access and can be attracted to sale and purchase

bargaining. The Govt receives annual charge as well as the fee for inspection from the business

owners in lieu of the land. Sometimes traders raise high commercial buildings which again create

problem as to the ownership rights in the land while sometimes they fix a small cabin to run a

shop.

c. Partially-Exempt Organizations

When a public land is occupied illegally by an organization which, because of the services it

provides, is of such a nature that it receives some partial exemption in fee from the Govt, it is

called encroachment by partially-exempt organization. These organizations include mosques,

charitable organizations, schools, not-for-profit religious charities like madrassas, union halls

and the like organizations. The services provided by these organizations are for the public

welfare and they are partially exempted from fee because of the provision of these services to the

community.

ii. Minor Encroachment

This encroachment is usually of a slight nature and does not have as severe consequences as of

the major encroachment in terms of the title of public land. This is sometimes ancillary to major

encroachment and is a part of it. In other words we can also say that major encroachment can

result in creation of minor encroachment also. This type of encroachment includes manholes,

railway ties, exhaust vents, handrails, air conditioners, marquises, fences of straight lines,

awnings, sewer connections, door opened in public way, flag poles, sign bases, banners, signs,

landscaping, canopies, ramps, exterior lighting, poles, pylons and flags.

iii. License-to-Occupy Encroachment

When the Govt issues a license to a private person to occupy a portion of a public land and

utilize it for some specific purpose as specified by the Govt, it is called a license-to-occupy

encroachment. It is usually seen in public parks where small cafes are built with the permission

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of the Govt. in such a case, private individuals encroach upon public land but with the prior

consent of the Govt. it also includes enclosures, front yard parking and boulevard parking etc.

2. Implications of Encroachments (Socio-Economic, Political)

Encroachments have severe social, economic, political and environmental implications for the

society. Whenever residential encroachments are made, whether in rural or urban areas, they

result in increased population which has a direct impact on society. These encroachments are

made by low income people who have poor sanitation condition and they throw their foul water

and solid waste into the streets which are hazardous for the environment. It also has severe

consequences for the Govt. With the increasing urban and rural encroachments, the pressure on

the Govt increases and it then starts to save the public lands from encroachers. Such encroachments

result into undesired public exposure, added risks and increased costs for the Govt.

C. Katchi Abadis

Katchi abadis are informal habitats which came into existence by way of squatting or

subdivisions of public land and of a private land also. It is defined in the Punjab Katchi Abadis

Act, 1992 as any area declared as katchi abadis under section 6 of that Act. Any area which was

occupied unauthorizedly before the cut off date 31.12.2006 and continues to be so occupied

having a cluster of at least 40 dwelling units on state land to be a Katchi Abadis. These consist of

the poor or low income people and are called squatter camps. In katchi abadis, there are small

houses made of mud or timber consisting of a very small number of rooms probably one or two.

The highest age of katchi abadis is 30 years because of their unstable condition. These

settlements are made on such lands the titles of which are mostly disputed.

Synonymous to katchi abadis, there are other terms called slum and squatter settlement. Any area

of a city which is occupied by people constructing sub-standard houses on it and which has no

security for its tenure is known as a slum. A squatter settlement therefore, can be defined as a

residential area, which had developed without legal claims to the land and/or permission from

the concerned authorities to build, as a result of their illegal or semi-legal status, infrastructure

and services and usually inadequate. There are essentially their defining characteristics that help

us understand squatter settlement: the physical, the social and the legal with the reasons behind

therein being interrelated.

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1. Types of Katchi Abadis

There are main two types of katchi abadis which are discussed as following:

i. Such abadis as were built at the time of partition of India by illegally occupying public

land in an unorganized manner. A large number of these abadis was removed in the

decade of 1960 or were given regularized status.

ii. Such abadis which were on built on informally subdivided public land. This type of

katchi abadis is of further two types:

a. Katchi abadis which are publicly notified. The Govt gives land to dwellers of such

abadis on lease for a period of 99 years where the infrastructure development

activities are carried out by the local Govt; and

b. Katchi abadis which are not publicly notified. They are not regularised because they

are either built on such land which is needed by the Govt for development activities

or they are built on a land which is unsafe for human dwelling.

In the context of Lahore, these types can be further categorized into following two categories:

Old Katchi Abadis

These settlements came into being at the time of partition when a large number (about

600,000) of migrants came to Lahore from India. The second step was taken in the

decade of 1950’s when industrial revolution occurred. Being a newly born state, the Govt

was not responsive to these people so they illegally occupied state lands wherever these

were available to them. No land grabbers or brokers were engaged in these activities.

New Katchi Abadis

These settlements occurred in 1970 and after the downfall of Bangladesh (Dhaka). As a

result, again people migrated to Lahore and illegally occupied state land because of the

Govt’s inability to respond to the situation. But at this time, land professionals came in

the field and occupied public lands for the purpose of sub-dividing, developing and

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selling to those migrants. Migrants purchased these lands from them with immediate

possession.

2. Rationale for Emergence of Katchi Abadis

These settlements are always made by poor and low income people who don’t have shelter.

There are some factors which are responsible for emergence of katchi abadis. The first is

population explosion. Our population is increasing day by day at a faster rate and the growing

number of people needs shelter for which they have no money to pay, so they occupy state land.

The Govt is not able to provide jobs and shelter to the needy people which resulted into poor

governance. Our cities are poorly planned. They don’t have enough space to accommodate the

growing urban population and to meet the needs of the day. The land owning agencies have no

control over the lands. The state land is occupied by private individuals without any resistance on

the part of Govt machinery. The formal systems of lands have also failed which resulted into the

illegal occupation of state land by private persons.

2. Legal Background1

Every public sector in Pakistan is regulated by law. It is the law which sets the guidelines for a

particular sector. Just like other areas, this sector is also regulated by law. Following are the laws

governing katchi abadis and encroachments in Punjab:

1. The Punjab Katchi Abadis Act, 1992

2. The Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1967

3. The Punjab Local Govt Ordinance, 2001

4. The Lahore Development Authority Act, 1975

5. The [Punjab] Autonomous Bodies Immovable Property (Ejectment of Unauthorized

Occupants) Ordinance, 1965

6. Pakistan Railways Police Act, 1977

These laws are discussed in the following paragraphs.

1. The Punjab Katchi Abadis Act, 1992

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This law is a provincial law which deals with katchi abadis and their regularisation. Under

section 3, there is a Director General of Katchi Abadis appointed by the Provincial Govt for

carrying out the purposes of this Act. Section 4 of the Act confers a variety of powers and

functions on the Director General ranging from implementation of Govt policies and laying

down guidelines for such implementation to issuing directions with regard to survey lists,

fixation of market price and all other matter concerning the regularization or development of

katchi abadis. Under section 5, the provincial govt constitutes an Implementation Committee

which consists of a chairman and such other members as the Govt may appoint. This committee

assists the Govt or Director General in implementing their policies/plans. Section 6 of the Act

gives the power to Director General to regularize katchi abadis. Minimum requirements are that

there should be forty dwellings at a particular locality and the people should have occupied it

before 31st December, 2006 and should continue in such occupation. If the area belongs to

Federal Govt, prior consent of such Govt shall be obtained and the area belongs to private

individual or a society then a prior agreement with such individual or society shall be made. In

such a case, the katchi abadis shall be subject to the terms and conditions of such agreement.

Section 21 gives retrospective effect to this law and makes valid all regularizations of katchi

abadis held before the commencement of this Act. This law also provides for schemes in katchi

abadis, shifting of occupants from katchi abadis for some purposes mentioned, fund of katchi

abadis, the custody of, and grants/gifts into, such fund, its accounts maintenance and audit.

2. Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1967

This law provides for the assessment and collection of land revenue by a revenue officer. Under

this Act, Collector of the district, by virtue of his office, is the custodian of Govt lands situated in

the district. But this fact is not expressly provided in this Act. There is also nothing provided in

this Act regarding his power to remove encroachments from public lands. The only power

provided is in section 175 under which a revenue officer can prevent and remove encroachments

from such private lands which are reserved for the common purposes of the residents of the

locality. He can do so on the application of any land owner in such estate and after giving an

opportunity of hearing to the person who encroached upon such land. It was held by the chief

court that a Revenue Officer has also power to order for dismantling the structure or building

erected on encroached land subject to the provisions of section 175.2

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3. The Punjab Local Govt Ordinance, 2001

The local Govt ordinance was issued as a result of the devolution plan of the Musharraf Govt.

This Ordinance empowers the Tehsil Municipal Administration, under section 51, subsection

1(e) to enforce all municipal laws, bye laws and rules governing its functions. Section 54, sub-

section 1(f) gives it power to prevent encroachments over public land. For this purpose, it has the

power to remove encroachments also. It has to issue early notices to encroacher fixing a time

directing to remove such encroachments and if the encroachers don’t comply with the notices,

then it takes practical steps to oust such encroachers from the public lands.

4. The Lahore Development Authority Act, 1975

This Act provides for the establishment of Lahore Development Authority. The City District

Nazim is its Chairman and Director General of the Authority and DCO Lahore are its members.

Section 8 of this Act makes the DG as the chief executive and whole time officer of the

authority. His term of office is three years. Section 39 of the Act empowers the District

Coordination Officer, Lahore or any person authorized by him or the Authority in this behalf, to

eject any person from the land belonging to the Authority who has illegally occupied such land.

But in such a case, the person whose ejectment is sought must be given an opportunity of hearing

in person.

Section 40 of the Act empowers the District Coordination Officer, Lahore to order for the

demolition or alteration of any building, structure or work which is carried out in contravention

of the provisions of this Act by any person. If such person doesn’t obey the said order of the

DCO, then the DCO can demolish or alter such building structure or work or can stop it after

giving a reasonable opportunity iof hearing to the person who will be affected by the said order.

Under Section 45, the Authority can make regulations for carrying out the purposes of this Act.

5. The [Punjab] Autonomous Bodies Immovable Property (Ejectment of Unauthorized

Occupants) Ordinance, 1965

This Ordinance defines an autonomous body as a corporation, institution, undertaking or other

body established with the aid of the revenue of Punjab but not with the revenue of the Federation

and includes a university and Board of Secondary Education established under the Punjab law,

and also an Industrial Development Corporation established under the Provincial Industrial

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Development Corporation Ordinance, 1962. Section 3 of the Ordinance authorises any

autonomous body to remove encroachment from public land after giving to the encroacher a

reasonable opportunity of hearing and to serve upon him a notice requiring him to remove any

standing crop or other structure within a period not less than 7 days and if such person fails to

remove such crop etc, that will be forfeited by the body without payment of any compensation to

him and if the body incurs some expenses on such removal, those will also be recovered from

such person. Under section 6, such body can also requisition police assistance for the removal of

encroachments by requesting the officer in charge of a police station. Under section 4, appeals

from the orders of officers of the Body shall be made to such Body and from the orders of the

Body to the Provincial Govt.

6. Pakistan Railways Police Act, 1977

This Act was promulgated in 1977 for the purpose of constitution and regulation of the Pakistan

Railways Police for the safety of passengers and goods transported by Pakistan Railways, the

protection of Railway property, the prevention, inquiry and investigation of offences committed

in relation to Pakistan Railways and for the connected matters. Section 3 of the Act gives to the

Federal Govt the power of constitution and regulation of Pakistan Railways Police and

specifying their territorial jurisdictions. Through S.R.O.74(1)/75 in the Gazette of Pakistan, the

Federal Govt specified the territorial limits of Pakistan Railways Police as residential colonies,

dwelling houses and barracks of railway se or c10sc proximity thereof, all lines of rails, sidings

or branches worked for the purposes of, or in connection with, Railway as lie inside the limits of

Karachi port Trust; and such lines of rails, sidings, branches worked for the purpose of, or in

connection with, Railway as lie beyond the outer signals of any railway station other than

warehouses, store depots, workshops, manufactories, fixed plants, machinery and other works,

owned and managed by Railway and constructed for the purposes of, or in connection with;

Railway and also such lines of rails as run inside them and lead to them. The Inspector General is

the head of this police. Under Section 9(7), an Officer-in-Charge of a Railway Police Station

may call upon the provincial police and the district magistrate to come to the help of Railway

police. Under Section 13, every member of this police is a public servant within the meaning of

Section 21 of the Pakistan Penal Code, 1860. Under Section 14 of the Act, all rights, properties,

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assets and liabilities of the Railway Watch and Ward shall stand transferred to the Pakistan

Railways Police on the commencement of this Act.

3. Regularization of Katchi Abadis

Following are the organizations which deal with regularization of katchi abadis:

1. Directorate General of Katchi Abadis

a. Organizational Setup

Directorate General of Katchi Abadis is an attached department of Local Government and Rural

Development Department, Government of Punjab. Director General is operational head of the

department while all the administrative affairs are seen and controlled by Secretary Local

Government and Rural Development Department. He is assisted by seven (7) directors i.e. one

Director Admin (BS-18), one Director Engineering (BS-18) and five Directors Monitoring (BS-

18). Out of the five seats of Directors Monitoring, only one seat is filled presently while the rest

of four seats are lying vacant. Director Monitoring is further assisted by an Assistant Director

Monitoring. Director Admin is further assisted by four Assistant Directors i.e. AD (Admin), AD

(Accounts), AD (CD) Male and AD (CD) Female.

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Source: Office of the DG (Katchi Abadis & Urban Improvement) Punjab

b. 3Functions:

Directorate of Katchi Abadis performs various functions as given below:-

1. This Directorate is a provincial body as it’s an attached department of a provincial

department. It is therefore, entrusted with the responsibility to oversee the affairs related

to Katchi Abadis across the whole province.

2. The main function of this body is to formulate policies and instructions to regulate the

Katchi Abadis which is then implemented through various Development Authorities like

LDA, FDA, and RDA etc. through their respective Directorates.

3. It also acts as a liaison between all the executing agencies and devises measures to ensure

the implementation of its policies in a smooth and effective manner.

4. Regularization of Katchi Abadis is a tough call to be made and this Directorate General

takes all the necessary steps when required to guide the executing agencies about the

upgraded rules and regulations made thereof.

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5. It communicates not only with the executing agencies but also responds to the queries of

the field offices like Revenue Offices, Office of a Nazim etc. from time to time and issues

clarifications pertaining to the policy matters.

6. District Implementation Committees are also notified by this Directorate General for each

district with District Coordination Officer as its Chairman. The other members may

include MPA concerned or any other MPA nominated by the Chief Minister, Additional

District Collector, Assistant Director Local Government and Director Katchi Abadis of

Development Authority of the district.

7. Moreover, there are some of its functions which are delegated to the concerned

directorates and other executing agencies like LDA. These functions include:

a. To carry out detailed physical survey and census of occupants of Katchi Abadis,

prepare plans and design infrastructural works in connection with the

development works of Katchi Abadis under the supervision of Director General

(KA & UI).

b. To formulate development and financial programs in respect of Katchi Abadis

and determine implementation strategy of such programs in consultation with

Director General (KA & UI).

c. To undertake, where necessary, low cost housing and re-development schemes for

re-settlement of shiftees from Katchi Abadis i.e. from the areas which are not

regularizable as Katchi Abadis, under the supervision of Director General (KA &

UI).

d. To inspect the development schemes of Katchi Abadis and may issue such

instructions as may be necessary.

e. To issue notices and evict unauthorized persons or to remove encroachments from

Katchi Abadis in accordance with law for the time being in force.

f. To prepare schemes for the development or regularization of Katchi Abadis

including the grant of proprietary rights to the dwellers as per policy of

Government, under the guidance of Director General (KA & UI).

g. To arrange civic amenities and civic services in Katchi Abadis and to sanction

Building Plans as per their jurisdiction, after observing rules and regulations on

the subject.

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h. To lodge complaints in a competent court of law as provided in Katchi Abadis

Act, 1992.

c. 4Policies/Procedures

This policy was initially a part of 5-Point Socio-Economic Program of the then Prime Minister

Mr Muhammad Khan Junejo. The objective was to grant proprietary rights to dwellers of Katchi

Abadis and develop them. Following are some of the salient features of this policy:

1. Katchi Abadis should at least consist of 40 dwelling units.

2. Plots in Katchi Abadis measuring up to 5 Marlas if partly used by the occupants for the

commercial uses would be considered residential only.

3. Occupants of Katchi Abadis in urban areas making full payment of development charges

in lump sum within a period of three months would get 50% concession in the said

charges.

4. No charges would be recovered in respect of land in Katchi Abadis under the occupation

of widows, orphans and disabled persons who have no means of livelihood.

5. No change or modification shall be made in survey lists by Local Councils. If any dispute

arises, between dweller and Local Authorities, regarding inclusion of left-over names,

incorrect entries of names, parentage etc., it will be resolved by the District

Implementation Committee whose decision shall be binding.

6. Any person in possession of state land in a Katchi Abadi, which has been transferred to

the Local Council/ Development Authorities and which he constructed before the cut-off

date and whose name is recorded in the survey list, shall be granted proprietary rights in

respect of the same land.

7. If the names of immediate family members i.e. Married Sons or Daughters have been

recorded in a unit having one entrance, the proprietary rights of the land to the extent of 5

Marlas will be transferred to such family members whose names have been registered in

the survey list.

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8. If the names of the different persons are registered as separate Dwelling Units but may

have one entrance, the proprietary rights will be given to all such persons in the land

under their possession not exceeding 5 Marlas per family.

9. If a person is running an Independent Commercial Unit and is not living with his family,

on the cut of date, he will pay the market price of the land under his occupation fixed by

the District Implementation Committee.

10. Proprietary rights should be given to the Dwellers on the payment of cost of land and the

development charges as may be specified.

11. No hard and fast rules can be laid down for the fixation of price as number of factors like

the environmental surroundings, location of plots, size and measurement of plot etc. may

be involved in determining the price of plots exceeding 5 Marlas.

12. While transferring the land, first the total areas under Katchi Abadis owned by various

Agencies of Federal and Provincial Governments will be transferred to the Development

Authorities through mutations or registered deeds but free of cost. As a next step, when

all dues are paid by the occupants for the land of the Katchi Abadis in their actual

possession, land will be transferred to them through sale deeds. In this manner, they

would become the lawful owners of the said land.

13. No development work should be undertaken in Katchi Abadis which are situated on

private land. Similarly, notices for the cost of land or development charges in respect of

Katchi Abadis or a portion of them situated on private land, should not be issued by

Development Authorities or Local Councils.

c-a. 5Further Detail of Policies/Procedures

i. Details of Katchi Abadis

Noted/Transferred Katchi Abadis = 900

Total area = 9100 Acres (approximately)

Total number of families = 220161

Fully developed Katchi Abadis = 128

Partially developed Katchi Abadis = 365

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ii. Ownership of Land under Katchi Abadis:

Mostly the land under Katchi Abadis belongs to the following departments:

A) Federal Government Departments

Pakistan Railways

Defence

Evacuee Trust Property Board

Pak PWD

B) Provincial Government Departments

Board of Revenue

Irrigation & Power Department

Agriculture Department

Industries Department

Muslim Auqaf Department

Education Department

iii. Objectives to Re-Develop Katchi Abadis

a) The objectives to re-develop Katchi Abadis are:

b) Improve the Urban landscape

c) Provide basic urban services like Sewerage, Water supply, Metalled Roads/ Streets,

Street Lights/ Electricity, Main Gas, Public Parks

d) Bring Katchi Abadis at par with the surrounding well-developed areas

e) Improve the living standard of Katchi Abadis poor dwellers

f) Safety of prime urban land.

iv. Proposal

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i. Construction of multi-storey flats on part of the land of Katchi Abadis is propsed as

under:

ii. 20% of the land may be utilized for this purpose and the remaining 80% of prime land be

evacuated.

iii. Private sector may be involved for the construction of these flats on B.O.T basis.

iv. The Basement may be utilized for parking and the ground floor may be reserved for

commercial purposes for the financial benefits of the dwellers of Katchi Abadis, who are

already using their dwelling units for the commercial-cum-residential purposes.

v. First to fifth floor may be utilized for purely residential purposes.

vi. Initially, the pilot project may be launched at each Divisional Headquarter.

v. Building Plan

Area of the Building 01 Kanal

Accommodation 2 rooms + lounge+ balcony+ kitchen+ bath

Covered area of a flat 800/900 S.Ft

Floors 05

No. of flats at each floor 04

No. of shops at ground floor 16

vi. Selection of Katchi Abadis

Following aspects may be kept in view while selecting Katchi Abadis for re-development or re-

settlement:

It is centrally located;

It has potential for commercial development;

It has some open area where the construction activities can be immediately taken up

without displacing the residents;

Priority may be given to the under-developed areas.

d. Performance/ Achievements

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The Directorate General (Katchi Abadis and Urban Improvement) Punjab which was established

as an attached department of the Local Government and Rural Development, Government of the

Punjab, has played a very vital role in the process of regularization of Katchi Abadis. The policy

measures provided by this body proved very beneficial and the executing agencies very aptly are

working out to address the issues pertaining to Katchi Abadis. The inherent objective of socio-

economic betterment of the poor has been achieved to some extent as people got the rights of

land and became owners of their respective dwellings.

While taking the example of Lahore Development Authority, it is learnt that the Authority has

conducted repeated surveys from time to time to register the Katchi Abadis. The latest survey of

30th September 2011 shows that there are 154 notified or declared Katchi Abadis in Lahore.

Moreover, the sum total of all the non-transferred Katchi Abadis in Lahore is 49. Similarly, 117

Katchi Abadis have been deleted from the list of Katchi Abadis on the basis of being on private

land, non-existence, or belonging to E.T.P.B and Muslim Auqaf.

2. Directorate of Katchi Abadis, LDA

a. Organizational Setup

Directorate of Katchi Abadis is an executing agency of Lahore Development Authority (LDA). It

is entrusted with the task of implementing and executing all the directions and policy measures

issued by the Directorate General (Katchi Abadis & Urban Improvement) Punjab that is working

under the Local Government and Rural Development Department Government of the Punjab. So

it has to work in close coordination with the Directorate General office as all policy matters are

being looked after by the Directorate General in liaison with the Katchi Abadis Cell of Ministry

of Environment, Local Government & Community Development and Government of Punjab. At

the lower levels the Development Authorities are performing the functions of Executing

Agencies and are responsible for implementing the Regularization of Katchi Abadis in big cities

like Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan, Rawalpindi, etc.  

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Source: Office of the Directorate Katchi Abadis, LDA

b. Functions of the Directorate

The Directorate of Katchi Abadis performs the following functions as the executing arm of the

Directorate General of Katchi Abadis:

1. To implement the regularization programme only in the recognized Katchi Abadis within

the jurisdiction of Lahore Development Authority.

2. To carry out:

site verification and

Re-verification of record, facts of enlisted and declared Katchi Abadis under the

directions of the Director General (Katchi Abadis & Urban Improvement) Punjab.

3. The Director General, Katchi Abadis & Urban Improvement Punjab also seeks help from

the Directorate in the performance of his duties and functions.

4. To scrutinize the cases for issuance of demand notices to the eligible dwellers as per

Government policy and instructions and to recover the cost of land and development

charges at the prescribed rates duly notified by the Government.

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5. To process the cases for grant of proprietary rights to the eligible dwellers of duly

notified, declared and transferred Katchi Abadis in accordance with the Government

policy and instructions.

6. The Directorate is also empowered to initiate penal action against the illegal occupants

and encroachers in order to ensure prevention of encroachments in the Katchi Abadis

c. Policies/Procedures

Issuance of Demand Notices

Initially a survey is conducted to determine the total number of Katchi Abadis. Then Demand

Notices are issued to the eligible dwellers in duly declared Katchi Abadis on provisional basis on

the criteria that name of the dweller should exist in the survey list and dweller should furnish

proof of continuous occupation/residence in a particular dwelling unit of a transferred Katchi

Abadi prior to cut-off date of 31-12-2006. The dweller should also provide an affidavit on the

prescribed stamped paper of Rs: 20/- duly attested by a Magistrate 1st Class or a Notary Public.

An application- on the prescribed form- along with requisite documents and copy of National

Identity Card may be presented in person by the bona fide dweller in the Directorate of Katchi

Abadis located at 7-Court Street, Lahore. 

Recovery of Charges

As per prevailing policy of the Government, the cost of land and development charges are to be

collected before grant of proprietary rights to the eligible dwellers in duly declared Katchi

Abadis land which has been transferred/mutated in favour of Lahore Development Authority.

A. Cost of Land

According to the policy instructions regarding regulation of Katchi Abadis in Punjab issued by

the Directorate General of Katchi Abadis, the following rates of land shall be applicable:-

1. Residential unit up to 5-Marlas @ Rs.172/- per Marla.

2. Excess land above 5-marlas at market price of 23-03-1985.

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3. Dwelling units partly commercial up to 5-marlas will be considered as residential @

Rs.172/- per Marla be charged.

4. Dwelling units exceeding 5-marla partly commercial will be considered as commercial

and market price of 23-03-1985 will be charged.

5. Difference in area/name in the survey list of a dwelling unit partly commercial will be

considered as commercial and will be charged market price of 23-03-1985.

B. Development Charges

The Development charges are recoverable at the rate of Rs. 500/- per Marla for Development

Authorities and Cantonment Boards and Rs. 250 per Marla for Tehsil Municipal

Administrations, in addition to the cost of land from the eligible dwellers.

Grant of Proprietary Rights

The grant of proprietary rights is linked with the transfer or mutation of state land under Katchi

Abadis in favour of LDA as Executing Agency. Proprietary rights are to be granted to the

eligible dwellers of those notified and declared Katchi Abadis land which has been transferred or

mutated in favour of the Lahore Development Authority. The case for grant of proprietary rights

to the Bona fide dweller after recovery or realization of charges and dues regarding cost of land

and development charges is filed.

Policy Regarding New Occupants

Government has defined a clear strategy regarding occupancy of the lands which belong to

Katchi Abadis. The prevailing policy of the Government is that the proprietary rights should be

granted to such occupants who have constructed dwelling units before the cut-off date of 31-12-

2006. Anybody who stepped into the shoes of old encroacher through power of attorney or

executing an agreement for sale of Malba will be treated as encroacher. The proprietary rights in

such cases shall be granted after recovery of charges/dues at market price of 23rd March, 1985.

Maintenance of Record of Documents

As per standing policy of LDA any dweller who has been granted proprietary rights may sell,

transfer or sublet his dwelling unit after the expiry of prescribed period of five years from the

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date of execution of his sale deed or grant of proprietary rights. The new occupant is required to

submit his application to the office along with the certified copy of Sale Deed of the sold and

dwelling unit, copies of National Identity Cards, three specimen signatures on plain paper and

attested photographs of both the original dweller and the new occupant. The cases would be

processed in accordance with the laid down procedure and standing Instructions. 

Change of ownership, when possible

According to the standing policy of LDA, in case any dweller dies, the legal heirs of the

deceased dweller are required to get a declaratory decree from the competent Court of law. For

substitution of legal heirs in place of original dweller, a hand-written application along with the

certified copy of Court decree or judgement, copies of National Identity Cards, three specimen

signatures on plain paper and passport size photograph of all the successors in interest, duly

attested by a Gazetted Officer may be presented to the office. After implementation of Court

orders and declaration of the successors by the Competent Authority, sale deed shall be executed

in favour of the legal heirs after recovering the dues.

d. Performance/ Achievements

The Directorate of Katchi Abadi at Lahore Development Authority is of huge importance owing

to the ever increasing size of the City District and burgeoning rich-poor divide. The

infrastructure and human resource is also available to it as LDA has a large setup. Over the

years, this Directorate has been able to implement the policy instructions issued by the

Directorate General of Katchi Abadis at the province level. This Directorate acts as an executing

agency to those orders and instructions issued to it. Apart from regularization of hundreds of

Katchi Abadis in Lahore, LDA Directorate has also been able to keep the record updated. It has

become possible due to the efforts of the Directorate that around 117 holdings were deleted from

the list of Katchi Abadis on the basis of being occupied on the private land or belonging to

Evacuee Trust or Muslim Auqaf. Moreover, the Directorate has also designed comprehensive

application form for the proprietary rights as well as notices of demand and sale deeds. The

record of all these documents is also kept with the Directorate.

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4. Katchi Abadis Management in Lahore

Every city of Pakistan is regulating katchi abadis according to the policies of the province of

such city. The city of Lahore is subject to the policies of the Govt of Punjab. Here the

management of katchi abadis has passed through different stages. This area will be discussed in

this section in detail in the light of history of katchi abadis.

1. Historical Perspective

The problem of katchi abadis emerged with the emergence of Pakistan. It was because the

Muslims of India, at the time of partition, were divided into two groups i.e. those who opted to

remain in India and those who opted to go to Pakistan. This historical perspective of katchi

abadis is discussed in following paragraph in detail:

i. Evolution--1947 Onwards

Pakistan is the world’s sixth populous country with 40% urban population. Pakistan has

estimated 4% Annual Growth rate of population. It is generally believed that Katchi Abadis

emerged in Pakistan for the first time in 1947 as settlements of Indian refugees. At the time of

independence, housing was a major problem for millions of people migrating into a new State.

As the State was unable to provide adequate housing for its population, squatter settlements soon

appeared and was mostly tolerated by the government. Later in 1960s, increasing

industrialization and urbanization accentuated the situation with refugees and rural migration

contributing to the growing number of urban poor.

Lahore has attained the status of being second biggest city of Pakistan and is the provincial

capital of Punjab. Out of 7.04 million populations living in Lahore District, 82% (5.77 million)

lives in the urban areas comprising of Ex-Municipal Corporation Lahore (Ex-MCL) Area,

Lahore Cantonment, Walton Cantonment and two small urban settlements (Ex-Town

Committee) of Kahna Nau and Raiwind. The Master Plan for Greater Lahore (1966) estimated

housing shortage to be between 39,086 and 80,399 dwelling units, whereas the Lahore Urban

Development and Traffic Studies (1980) estimated this backlog as high as 300,000 dwelling

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units. But the estimates worked out by National Engineering Services Pakistan (NESPAK) in

2001 indicate the housing backlog in Lahore District (Urban) was around 154,000 dwelling

units. Due to this backlog the phenomenon of unplanned urban slums (Kachi Abadis) has been

on an unprecedented rise in Lahore over the past 3-4 decades. This increase is a direct

consequence of population growth, rural urban migration and non provision of built

houses/serviced plots for the low income. The deterioration of old urban settlements has further

aggravated the issue. Today around 305 katchi abadis can be found in the district.

ii. Previous Structure

The Directorate General Katchi Abadis was created for the first time in 1987. Before 1987, the

regularization process of katchi abadis was entrusted to the Local Govt Department. There was a

Section Officer below the Secretary Local Govt Punjab who was concerned with the

regularization of katchi abadis in Punjab. A survey of katchi abadis was conducted in 1985 for

their regularization and all the katchi abadis, which fulfilled the legal criteria and which were

existed before 23rd March, 185 i.e. the cut-off date, were regularized in 1985. In 1987, the office

of Director General Katchi Abadis was established through a law known as the Punjab Katchi

Abadis (Regularization & Development) Act, 1987. In 1992, another law known as Punjab

Katchi Abadis Act was enacted through which the role of Director General Katchi Abadis was

extended to urban improvement also and that is the present structure. The procedure was, and is

presently also, that for the purpose of regularization of katchi abadis, a No Objection Certificate

(NOC) had to be obtained from the independent body i.e. Railways Department on whose land

such abadis were situated and the regularization process could not be effected in the absence of

such NOC. For Katchi Abadis which have to be relocated due to practical reasons, the dwellers

will be shifted after preparing re-settlement plans by the land owning agencies. According to the

directorate of katchi abadis Lahore Development Authority, there are 35908 dwelling units of

141 katchi abadis which include the katchi abadis declared as such before 1985 as well as

afterwards. So far propriety rights were granted to 9794 people, 26567 people still do not have

the rights while 12000 notices have been issued to the dwellers of katchi abadis in this regard.

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iii. Previous Efforts Made for Removal of Encroachments

Efforts for removal of encroachments form public land have been made from time to time by all

the three agencies i.e. Railways Department, LDA and District Govt but these were not

successful because of the agitation of residents of katchi abadis, granting stay orders by the

courts and the subsequent interference of the Provincial Govt. Resultantly, katchi abadis have

either were successful in getting regularized or they still continue with non-regularized status.

2. Present Structure

Governments take Anti Encroachments drives on regular basis but because of the backlog in

housing sector, government doesn’t demolish these physical structures now. Government

realizes that people migrate to urban settlements as a last resort for a better future, more for the

betterment of their future generations than for themselves. These migrants cannot afford to buy a

conventional shelter for themselves. Hence, the migrant population has to make their own

arrangements because government doesn’t have enough resources for the purpose. The present

structure is explained as following:

A. Lahore Development Authority (LDA)

LDA acts as an executing agency implementing the policy decisions of federal and provincial

governments. In this regard, LDA acts on behalf of the Director General Katchi Abadis, Punjab.

As already mentioned, Director Katchi Abadis works under the Director General, LDA.

i. Regulating the State’s Land

The Directorate of Katchi Abadis has been invested with the responsibility of implementing the

regularization programme in accordance with the policy of incumbent government in the

recognized Katchi Abadis that lie within the jurisdiction of Lahore Development Authority. The

Directorate also carries out site verification or re-verification of entire record and facts of Katchi

Abadis notified or enlisted under the direction of the Director General Katchi Abadis & Urban

Improvement Punjab.

Its responsibilities also include processing and scrutinizing the cases for issuance of demand

notices to the people that qualify the criterion set by the government, and recovering the cost of

land and development charges at the prescribed rates duly notified by the Government. The

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process for the cases for grant of proprietary rights to the eligible dwellers from Katchi Abadis

that have been duly notified is another function of Directorate of Katchi Abadis that it has to

perform in accordance with the incumbent Government instructions.

There is a directorate in LDA known as Directorate of Estate Management which regulates the

land belonging to LDA. This directorate is entrusted with the powers of sale of vacant residential

and commercial plots, allotment of plots earmarked for utility sites in LDA schemes, recover of

price of sold/allotted lands, delivery of possession of sold lands, issuing NOCs and can allow

extension in building period of plots etc.

ii. Removal of Encroachments from State’s Land

The Directorate of Estate Management, LDA also initiates penal action against the illegal

occupants/encroachers in order to ensure prevention of encroachments on LDA land. The

procedure of issuing a Demand Notice is also a task of this Directorate. The prevailing policy of

the Government is that the cost of land and development charges is to be collected before

proprietary rights are granted to the eligible dwellers in duly notified or declared Katchi Abadis

land.

Apart from this regularization, Deputy Director Estate Management, in interview, told that anti-

encroachment drives are held on regular intervals. He, however, admitted that these drives are

not very actively pursued on humanitarian basis. They only take action against those encroachers

who set up temporary shops on government lands.

B. The District Government

i. Custodian of State’s Land

District governments are important agencies in maintenance and custody of government lands in

district. City District Government Lahore (CDGL) itself and through its nine Town Municipal

Authorities (TMA), carries out anti-encroachment drives. In case of Tehsil City, Lahore which

covers three TMAs (Samanabad, Ravi, and Data GanjBukhsh), Assistant Commissioner of

Tehsil maintains a record of all state lands and any encroachments on that land. Those lands

which are under litigation are recorded separately. According to the latest data, nearly 50,000

32

Kanals of government land belonging to provincial and federal governments, and CDGL are still

encroached which do not belong to any duly notified Katchi Abadis scheme.

ii. Role in Encroachment’s Removal

TMAs in conjunction with the CDGL carry out anti-encroachment activities during which they

capture any movables that are used to encroach that land. TMAs later auction such materials. A

report of these anti-encroachment drives in Anarkali, and Mall Road showed that a majority of

these encroachers were vendors of used-clothes.

A case of regularization of state land was under litigation in which fraudulent record was

presented to get Chamba House, an encroachment settlement, notified a Katchi Abadis. CDGL

however went into court against this decision.

C. Railways Authority

i. Regulating Authority

Civil Engineers working under the office of Director Land, in Railways Divisional Headquarters,

Lahore are the regulating authority of Railways lands. In Lahore Division, total railways land is

above 30,000 acres of which 18,000 acres is in operational use. Nearly 900 acres are encroached

or under litigation. 44 acres have been encroached upon by Katchi Abadis whereas 13 acres of

railways land has been encroached by various government departments.

There are two major categories of encroachments on Railways lands:

1. Temporary encroachments, which include commercial encroachments in the form

of Landa Bazaars, and

2. Residential encroachments, like shanty towns or katchi abadis.

Civil Engineers do not take action against the latter category of encroachments on compassionate

as well as on technical grounds as they lack necessary political support once they set out for anti

encroachment drives. On the other hand, the anti-encroachment drives are also not successful

because of the connivance of Railway officials with the encroachers. Such issues hamper the

performance of the executing agency.

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iii. Administration at the Divisional Level

There is no administration of Railways department at the district level. It is only at the divisional

level where head of office is the Divisional superintendent, Railways. Below him, there is a

Director Land who is responsible for regulating the Railways land and dealing with

encroachments on these lands. The Director Land is further assisted by a Deputy Director Land

who is responsible for preparing and keeping the record of all lands belonging to Railways

Department. He also has the duty to identify various encroachments made on these lands by

private persons and to make a case for taking action against such encroachers.

3. State’s Land Management: Performance Evaluation

i. LDA policy/SOPs

The Directorate Katchi Abadis as well as Directorate Estate Management of LDA are the

relevant authorities in LDA. The Director Katchi Abadis deals with land occupied by squatter

settlements. His office receives regularization files from the office of DG Katchi Abadis. This

office issues demand notices to residents of katchi abadis for recovery of relevant charges, cost

of land and costs of development and improvement of katchi abadis if the Govt has rendered

such cost. After recovery of all such charges and costs, it grants proprietary rights to the residents

of katchi abadis. Director Estate Management deals with all other lands of LDA. His office sells

such lands, transfers their possession, recovers prices of such lands and costs and is also

empowered to remove encroachments of LDA lands made by private people.

ii. District Government’s Policy

Regarding regularization of the recognized Katchi Abadis, CDGL follows directions from the

provincial government. TMAs and Revenue Officers have been charged with the duty of giving

property rights to the dwellers in the duly notified Katchi Abadis. There are however certain

issues which have become a strong impediment in achieving the targets of regularizing Katchi

Abadis existed before 31st of December 2006.

iii. Railway Authority’s Policy

Railways authorities have a policy of taking stern action against commercial encroachers. But

due to technical and humanitarian issues and the connivance of Railway officials with

encroachers, they avoid taking action against dwellers. The sections in Lahore Division from Kot

34

Lakhpat to Raiwind, and from Lahore station to Badamibagh and Shahdra are particularly full of

encroachments where more than 200 Katchi Abadis have recently been identified. Railways’

anti-encroachment teams try first to recover the encroached land. If not possible, then

regularization is the other option with leasing and renting as two choices given to the dwellers. In

this way, at least unused land is turned into a productive land.

iv. Types of Encroachments on Railway Land

Encroachments on Railway lands are classified as one of the following:

a. Cultivation on Railway land is the most common type. Modus operandi is usually

incremental encroachment and inclusion of Railway land into the adjacent field.

b. Soft Encroachments such as unauthorised way and facilities such as doors

opening into railway area, access from Railway land, drainage into Railway area,

throwing refuse onto Railway land for cattle, dung etc.

c. Hard Encroachments such as construction of temporary or permanent structures

for housing, commercial or other purposes, additions and alterations to existing

Railway Structures etc.

d. Trespassing such as entering Railway land unauthorisedly with or without

materials, with intention of setting of dwelling unit, or for carrying out trade or

business.

v. Procedure order for detection, prevention and removal of encroachments on railway land

c. Maintenance of register of land records with up-to-date enteries

d. Demarcation of land boundaries through proper maintenance of boundaries pillars

e. All out efforts to be made to ensure that no new encroachment takes place.

Divisional Superintendent is made responsible for deciding the nature of

boundary structure (fencing or tree row or continuous wall or ditch etc.) for each

area based on cost and vulnerability of land.

35

f. Railway officers charged with the duty of protection of railways land shall take all

measures to prevent new or incipient encroachments. In case they themselves are

not successful, it shall be their duty to bring the same to the personal notice of

AEN and concerned Divisional Officers verbally as well as in writing, requesting

them to take measures to stop the same. Wherever persuasion by the Railway

authorities does not yield any result the construction should be stopped by force,

if necessary, and thereafter and FIR under Railways Act should be lodged by the

Engineering Department with the police having jurisdiction over the area.

v. Particular Examples of Existing Encroachments

a. Lawyers’ chambers on railway track in kot Lakhpat are an excellent example of

encroachments on railways lands.

b. The whole Bogi Road which is right in front of Divisional Headquarter of

Pakistan Railways is encroached from both sides.

vi. Action Taken/Decision Made against Encroachment

Regular anti-encroachment drives are held by CDGL, TMAs, and by Railways teams

accompanied by Railways Police. But most of the times these actions are reversed by the

intervention of Provincial Govt as a result of agitation of residents of these abadis.

5. Katchi Abadis on Railway Land in Jamil Abad, Shalamar

Tehsil, Lahore-A Case Study

In its report “Expanding Housing Financing to the Undeserved in South Asia”, the World Bank

says that “Pakistan is facing an unprecedented shortage of 7.6 million housing units, which

forces more than half of the country’s urban population to live in slums”1.

Even though six decades have passed since the creation of an independent homeland, a

significant proportion of Pakistanis do not own their homes. The issue of inadequate housing has

led to the mushrooming of Katchi Abadis in major cities of Pakistan. Such settlements are an

1 Expanding Housing Financing to the Undeserved in South Asia, October 2010,the World Bank report,P.213,Nenova Tatiana.

36

informal market response to the failure of official planning. The genesis of Katchi Abadis goes

back to the influx of Partition migrants who settled into camp settlements in cities. Resettlement

delays led these camps to grow and slowly took the form of Katchi Abadis. They began to attract

laborers migrating from other areas within Pakistan as well as impoverished refugees pouring in

from Afghanistan since 1980s. Two years ago, the World Bank estimated that around half of the

Pakistani urban population lives in Katchi Abadis, many of which lack access to safe drinking

water, sanitation, regular electricity supply and paved roads. Initially, government officials tried

demolishing these settlements, many of which had encroached on prime lands. However, these

attempts failed because squatter settlements were being built with the connivance of the land

mafia, backed by political class, and with the tacit approval or facilitation of members of law-

enforcement agencies. As these settlements grew, the Government realized that regularization

instead of resettlement would be a more effective option.

The proportion of Katchi Abadis that have been regularized is a very small fraction of the overall

number of such settlements. Homes of residents in these non-regularized Abadis remain under

constant threat of demolition, leaving the poor and desperate families who live there with the fear

that they could lose their dwelling at any time. Iqbal is one such man who spends his life. Under

this fear of losing his dwelling at a non-regularized katchi abadis of jamilabad built on Railways

land in Shalamar Tehsil, Lahore, he is passing his days of life

Iqbal told us that he along with his family shifted to this area from his village some 25 years

back. He purchased this place from a person for Rs.80,000. He arranged this amount by selling

his wife’s gold ornaments, family savings and by borrowing some credit. At that time, this five

Marla place was nothing but a chappar (shelter made with date trees leaves). Now he has divided

this five marlas in two parts giving half to his brother. He lives in his portion with his wife and 6

children. He drives a rickshaw in the city while his sons work in a workshop and his daughters

do embellishment work on the clothes. This way they try to earn bread for themselves. Iqbal

knows well that he has occupied state land and can be displaced anytime from the land, he told

that several times in past officials have threatened to evict the community. And on one occasion,

he says, officials tried to completely demolish the settlement and his house outer walls and one

room was destroyed. Only one room over his request was left so that his young daughters stay

inside. After that, he says, no major attempt has been made. The officials tease us when we try to

37

raise our outer walls, threaten us and we try to save ourselves by giving them their share. Some

people in the Katchi Abadis are living on rent as well. Iqbal’s brother who has moved to city has

rented out his dwelling for Rs.1200 per month to a family.

Iqbal’s wife was complaining that despite paying bills regularly they are unable to use

refrigerators because of power crises. This was unusual to see that in this settlement people were

using electricity not from the connection taken from some nearby house but from Lahore Electric

Power Supply Company. They showed us bill issued in Iqbal’s name under khatta #

16134215090019 from feeder Sabzi Mandi of Mughal Pura Division. They said that initially they

spent some years without electricity, later they took connection from nearby houses and then all

the members of this area decided and bribed Electric Company’s employees and got their

connections. The bill for the month of December was Rs.75. Iqbal also showed us his Sui Gas

bills. To him gas was provided to Katchi Abadi of Jamil Abad some 6 years back. The politician

Haleem Khan during his tenure provided them not only Sui Gas connections but also he built

brick pavements in the settlement. The water facility was poor in the settlement. Iqbal said that

“those rich among us are using water provided by WASA but we are to drink Railway water

which is all contaminated because WASA connection charges are beyond our limits”. The

Railway water’s pipelines are all broken and sewerage pipes leak enters in it. But Iqbal was

satisfied with the overall situation if he gets proprietary rights. He told that he is willing to live in

these conditions but only land’s ownership be given to him. Since no proper committee exists in

the settlement, therefore, any person who is politically active among them calls for collections.

Last time it happened a year earlier when a local Sattar collected Rs.1000 to 1500 from each

house of the katchi abadis telling them to be the registration fee for the registration of land.

Iqbal is, like other people living in the abadis, hopeful to get proprietary rights before the general

elections of 2013. He is pining hope on the recent survey done by the office of Divisional

Superintendent Railway department and measurements taken by it.

Railway’s point of view

In order to know the point of view of railways department, a visit was paid to it. The Railways

Department officers told that these dwellings are made near the Jamilabad katchi abadis which

38

Railways Department surrendered on 16.07.2004 to LDA. These dwellings do not fall in the 30

kanals land which is a notified katchi abadis area but are made adjacent to it. According to them,

this problem emerged when regularization of Katchi Abadis was notified in mid-80s. More

encroachers came to the abadis before the completion of first survey in this way more land had to

be surrendered. While those, who could not make it in first survey and land measurements,

joined the abadis and made their dwellings. These 80 dwellings of Jamilabad are one of those

who now are asking for proprietary rights. They further told that lower staff of Railways

Department is also responsible as they themselves are among the encroachers and occupy land

after retirement. Although political pressure is there for regularization of many such Railways

lands but Railway Department has refused to carry any survey and measurement of land.

Railways Department holds its land in the prime location of Lahore city which makes the value

of land very high. Railways Department either surrenders its excess land (criterion in Railways

Act is if the land is in excess and is not apprehended to be used in future) in the name of revenue

department for residential purposes or gives its land on lease for commercial use. Earlier in

Punjab Province Railways Department and Revenue Department had shares 40:60 respectively

in land selling but recently it has been raised to 50:50, a practice being followed in other

provinces of the country. Due to collusion of land mafia, encroachers and Railway employees,

this valuable land is going out of Railway’s ownership. It is now expected that if the trend does

not stop this may lead to the situation where railway department be left with very little land for

its own usage.

Railway has its own inspection team. This inspection team’s function is to strictly monitor the

area and keep a check on growing encroachment on Railway’s land. “The staff visits regularly

but whenever there are holidays the encroachers take advantage and erect some new structure”,

says Karam Ali inspector 4 of Mughal Pura Division. He added that we do not allow further

structure building in the area but these encroachers do such activities in the night time usually.

For Railways Department removing these encroachers is not easy, they do it in parts because any

major drive may lead to law and order situation. They fear of arising of any such situation

because of the lack of support between the Federal and Provincial (i.e. Railways and Police)

departments. In the next two months Railways has scheduled anti encroachment drives against

the encroachers on commercial land. After that they intend to hold a Major Anti Encroachment

39

Drive against the residential encroachers but it seems difficult because of the upcoming elections

and influence of land mafia.

Provision of utility services on the encroached land of Railways is worrisome because this makes

them eligible on humanitarian grounds to keep the land in possession. Railways authorities are

well aware of the facts but hold LDA, WASA and LESCO responsible and also admit the

collusion of their lower staff.

LESCO’S Point of View

Legally non-regularized katchi abadis come under un-electrified areas. But still they manage to

get access to electricity. Kunda theft and taking connection through a wire from nearby houses is

a common practice. In Jamilabad’s non-regularized katchi abadis, some 70 houses are getting

electricity from LESCO and are charged with monthly bills. They are getting supply from Sabzi

Mandi Feeder of Mughal Pura Division. XEN Mughal Pura Division Mr. Ahmad Fawad says

that lesco supplies to Railways Department 11 KV electricity in bulk. Railways has its own

power houses i.e. 1, 2, 3 from where they supply electricity to their respective areas. It’s from

there that electricity is provided to these dwellings.

The point of concern for us was the provision of electricity meters to dwellings from LESCO.

LESCO only provides meters according to its policy to dwellings for which PT1 is provided.

Being non-regularized abadis, no such document can be produced by the dwellers but meters

were installed some 15 years back.

LESCO is willing to cut its power supply to these dwellings if it receives any such request from

railway department. Since LESCO has been generating revenue for the last 15 years, therefore,

they propose that such PTs be documented.

WASA’s Stance

According to rules, WASA is authorized to provide water connection to any housing unit on

submission of the registration copy of the property or on provision of proof of ownership. But to

katchi abadis of Jamilabad, WASA has provided connection to the encroachers of railways land.

40

When contacted, Mr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, Director Planning and Evaluation WASA, told us that

UCR (Unauthorized Connection Regulation) have been issued to such dwellers. WASA is

already in loss, he said, and water theft is a common practice, therefore, WASA is providing

water to such dwellings. They are billed and revenue is generated. This is done to avoid possible

water theft by such dwellers. They are to pay one year bill in advance after which they are

adjusted to regular billing system. However, if Railways department send any letter to WASA in

this regard, water supply to the area can be stopped.

Analysis

From the above case study, it can be concluded that no single person can be blamed for all what

is happening. All departments are involved in it one way or the other. However, no one is willing

to admit his role and involvement rather put blame on each other. Unquestionably, providing

shelter to the people is the prime responsibility of state but unfortunately it has failed to play its

role in an effective manner. Despite the fact that volume of Katchi Abadis on state land is

increasing day by day but somehow state has not, so far, dealt the issue of residential

encroachments with iron hand due to which public in general and land mafia in particular find

state land an easy prey. Land occupiers, like Iqbal, too are not exempted from the blame.

Knowing well that this land belongs to the state, they came and raised their structures. They find

it a good investment because by paying very nominal charges they occupy land in a prime

location of the city. By involving utility services department, they get services of gas, electricity,

water and sanitation. Once it becomes a pakka houses settlement, they pressurize political

leaders contesting for elections and Governments to give them proprietary rights on humanitarian

grounds.

LESCO and WASA are also involved in the whole game. LESCO, while providing connections,

does not perform its responsibility. PT1 documents are not properly verified. The concerned

SDO should verify such documents issued from Katchery and the culprits be penalized under

section 420 of Pakistan Penal Code, 1860.WASA should also improve its checks system and

ensure that occupants of state lands do not get connections. Because if they once get connections

then WASA’s administration is only left with the option of adjusting them on billing system after

they pay charges of one year or 3 years at maximum. It’s better to charge them for water theft but

41

if all the facilities are provided then it makes such residential encroachments eligible for

regularization.

But the department which is most at fault is the Railways Department. It is the custodian of its

land which lies in the prime location of Lahore city. There is less documentation done in this

regard. From the statements of its official it is obvious that no pains are borne while leasing out

or in surrendering its land in the name of Revenue Department. The officers and staff both seem

to be at peace with ongoing situation because least effective efforts are made to take back their

encroached land. Railways Department, despite knowing well their total encroached area, has not

issued any letter to LESCO and WASA to stop power and water supply to these lands.

To conclude, the rationale of state land is to use it in provision of services in public interest.

Enough state land should be left for this purpose. All efforts to encroach state land for

commercial and residential purposes should be strongly discouraged. Only a strong Political will

and sense of responsibility at all levels can stop the growing trend of residential encroachments

over prime locations of state land and can stop the collusion of individuals, institutions and

various public departments.

6. Issues Involved

There are two organisations which deal with regularisation of katchi abadis. The Director

General Katchi Abadis regularizes katchi abadis and the Director LDA Katchi Abadis executes

and implements the regularization orders of the Director General and allots lands to the residents.

This process of regularization is not so smooth but is hampered by various issues. These issues

are discussed as under:

A. Issues Specific to Office of DG (KA&UI)

These are issues which are related to the office of Director General (Katchi Abadis & Urban

Improvement. These issues are discussed as under:

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1. Non-Issuance of NOCs by Pakistan Railways for Remaining Katchi Abadis

As a result of survey conducted during the year 1985-86, ninety one (91) katchi abadis were

identified being established on the land belonging to Pakistan railways. The railways authorities

were approached vigorously from time to time for the issuance of NOCs, which is a pre-requisite

for declaration of dwellings as katchi abadis under the Punjab Katchi Abadis Act, 1992. In this

regard, the Federal Government announced following latest policy on 15.01.2001. Which is

consistent with previous policy:-

“The Ministry of Pakistan Railways will issue NOCs for all pre 1985 KATCHI ABADIS WHICH

HAVE BEEN REGULARIZED UNDER THE 1985 policy”

In the first instance, the Pakistan railways issued NOCs for 49 katchi abadis vide letter dated

17.04.2001. no condition was imposed for 22 katchi abadis in the aforesaid letter whereas,

certain conditions were imposed for 27 katchi abadis. Accordingly, these 49 katchi abadis were

declared/notified and the land thereunder was transferred in favour of executing agencies for

final conferment of proprietary rights to the bona fide dwellers.

As far as remaining 42 katchi abadis are concerned, joint survey has been completed by the

Pakistan railways, revenue authorities and development authorities/TMAs concerned in the year

2004. As per joint survey reports, 2 katchi abadis required complete shifting whereas,4 katchi

abadis required partial shifting. As such, there is no hindrance in issuing NOCs for balance 36

katchi abadis established on Pakistan Railway lands where no shifting completely/partially, no

railway lines or railway quarters are involved, but the matter is still pending since long.

Moreover, “a poverty assessment survey” has been conducted throughout the Punjab province

and 26 post-1985 katchi abadis have been identified on the land belonging to Pakistan railways

established before 31.12.2006 which are also required to be regularized in pursuance of the

Punjab Katchi Abadis (Amendment) Ordinance, 2007. Accordingly, the chairman, Pakistan

railways , ministry of railways Islamabad was requested for issuance of NOCs for aforesaid

62(36+26) remaining katchi abadis established on the land belonging to Pakistan railways, but no

response has yet been received.

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Accordingly, the office of DG (KA & UI) Punjab is persistently asking the chairman, Pakistan

Railways, Ministry of Railways, Islamabad to issue NOCs for remaining katchi abadis

established on the land belonging to Pakistan Railways in compliance with the aforesaid policy

of the Federal Government, but the matter is still pending since long.

However, the Director (Property & Land), Pakistan Railways in the last meeting of the

subcommittee of senate standing committee on railways held on 22.04.2008 stressed upon that

first remit the cost of land recovered from the bona fide dwellers of all such declared /transferred

katchi abadis and then construct the boundary wall so that remaining cases for issuance of NOCs

could be processed.

2. Non-Remittance of Cost of Land to the Railways by the Executing Agencies

Recovered from the Bona Fide Dwellers of Declared/Transferred Katchi Abadis

The execution agency-wise detail of 49 already declared/transferred katchi abadis is as under:-

Serial # Name Of Executing Agency No. of KAs

1 Lahore Development Authority, Lahore 33

2 Faisalabad Development Authority, Faisalabad 4

3 Town Municipal Authority Jaranwala, Faisalabad 1

4 Tehsil Municipal Administration, Sahiwal 1

5 Tehsil Municipal Administration, Khanewal 1

6 Tehsil Municipal Administration, Mian Chunnu,

Khanewal

1

7 Tehsil Municipal Administration, Kabirwala 1

8 Tehsil Municipal Administration, Bahawalpur saddar 2

9 Tehsil Municipal Authority, Sadiqabad(R.Y.Khan) 1

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10 Town Municipal Authority, Nadirpur Town Gujranwala 1

11 Tehsil Municipal Authority, Jehlum 1

12 Town Municipal Authority, Rawal Town, Rawalpindi 1

13 Town Municipal Authority, Potohar Town, Rawalpindi 1

Total 49

Accordingly, the office of DG (KA & UI) Punjab is persistently asking the concerned executing

agencies to arrange remittance of cost of land to the railways authorities, recovered from the

bona fide dwellers of declared/transferred katchi abadis established on Pakistan railways land.

3. Non Construction of Boundary Wall by LDA in Katchi Abadis Already

Declared/Transferred to LDA

Pakistan railways issued NOCs for 27 katchi abadis with certain conditions including

construction of boundary wall to segregate railways areas/tracks from katchi abadis where

required. In this regard following decision was taken by the Chief Minister, Punjab in a meeting

held on 23.06.2004:

‘” a wall will be constructed between the railways track and katchi abadis after the NOC by the

railways authorities and katchi abadis. LDA will prepare a PC-1 and P&D will allocate the

necessary funds”

Accordingly, the office of DG (KA & UI) Punjab is asking the Lahore development authority,

Lahore, time and again, to provide PC-1 for construction of boundary wall where required

enabling this Directorate to forward the case to the P&D department for allocation of necessary

funds. However, the matter is still pending with LDA since long.

4. Non Signing of Joint Inspection Reports of Katchi Abadis by Rep of Pakistan

Railways Where no Shifting Completely/Partially, No Railway Lines or Railway

Quarters are Involved

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It was decided in the meeting held on 02.10.2007 that railways authorities will issue NOCs in

compliance with Federal Government’s policy, first of all for such katchi abadis where no

shifting completely/partially, no railway lines or railway quarters are involved. Accordingly, a

joint inspection committee was constituted who carried out the joint inspection of five katchi

abadis and a katchi abadis-wise report was prepared. All the departmental members of the joint

inspection team affixed their signatures on 29.10.2007 and verified that no shifting

completely/partially, no railway lines or railway quarters are involved in the following katchi

abadis.

Mujahid Abad, Lahore

Gulshan Colony, Lahore

Rehmat Colony, Lahore

Sultan Pura, Bund Road, Lahore

Such Nehr, Lahore

The aforesaid report was handed over to the A.E.N (P&L) Pakistan Railways by the office of DG

(KA & UI) Punjab for signatures on the same day i.e 29.10.2007, but he did not sign the same,

therefore, the Director (Property & Land), Pakistan Railways has been requested by the office of

DG (KA & UI) Punjab, time and again, to furnish joint inspection report duly signed by A.E.N

(P&L), Pakistan Railways. However, the same is still awaited inspite of promise of the Director

(P&L), Pakistan Railways made in the last meeting of the Sub-Committee of Senate Standing

Committee on Railways held on 22.04.2008

5. Non Provision of Alternate Land by Pakistan Railways for Resettlement of the

Affectees of Katchi Abadis

The joint survey of remaining 42 katchi abadis has been completed by the Pakistan railways,

revenue authorities and development authorities/TMAs concerned in the year 2004. As per joint

survey report, the following katchi abadis have been identified where areas to be retained

entirely or partially are involved and affectees are required to be resettled:-

Katchi Abadis Requiring Entire Re-Settlement:

46

1. Gujja pir, Lahore

2. Bilal colony, Lahore

Katchi Abadis Requiring Partial Re-Settlement

1. Muhammad Puara Gunj, Lahore

2. Hope Road No.2, Lahore

3. Railway Phattak. No. 8, FDA, Faisalabad

4. Near Railway overhead Bridge, MDA, Multan

In order to resettle the affectees, the Federal Government announced following latest policy on

15.01.2001 which is also a part of the National Housing Policy:

1. The katchi abadis which need to be shifted /relocated must be identified,

2. These areas should be reasonably good and close to the towns so that the affected persons

are not reluctant to go there,

3. Katchi abadis, which are hazardous by virtue of being close to railway tracks or located

under high tension power lines, or are close to the riverbeds, or on lands needed for

operations/security purposes need to be relocated at appropriate places by “ The Land

Owning Agencies”.

Accordingly, the office of DG (KA & UI) Punjab is regularly asking the Director (P&L),

Pakistan Railways to provide appropriate alternate lands for resettlement of the affectees of

katchi abadis established on Pakistan railways land in compliance with the aforesaid policy of

the Federal Government, but the matter is still pending since long.

B. General Issues

These are issues which are generally prevailing regarding regularization of katchi abadis. These

are discussed as under:

1. Price Adjustment

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In lieu of regularization, the Director General fixes some minimum price of land to be paid by

the residents of the abadis. But this price is, most of the time, becomes a matter of dispute one

way or the other. Currently the price of land in katchi abadis is 172 rupees per Marla for the

purposes of regularization. If the price is too low, it is not acceptable to the district

administration because it holds the charge of public lands in the district and when it is high, it is

not acceptable to the residents of katchi abadis because they are mostly poor people. Due to this

fact, there occur problems in regularizing such abadis and it stops the process for a very long

time.

2. Autonomous Bodies

The autonomous bodies like railways and LDA etc have power, under the [Punjab] Autonomous

Bodies Immovable Property (Ejectment of Unauthorized Occupants) Ordinance, 1965, to remove

encroachments from their lands. When katchi abadis are on their lands, they regulate them

according to their own laws and policies and they don’t agree with the regularization of these

abadis by the Director General. They have various concerns for not agreeing. These concerns

may be regarding price of land or the land being required to these bodies for their own disposal

etc.

3. Processing

There is a problem of processing of regularization files. When the land belongs to district

administration, the file comes to the district offices. Here if the district administration has

concerns regarding regularization, then meetings are held at various times and this issue is

discussed again and again till the time the issue is resolved and it is not resolved so easily. So,

this leads to an immeasurable delay at times and the processing takes a lot of time. Similar is the

case of autonomous bodies. Red tapism of the bureaucracy further slowed down this process.

4. Political

There are some political issues involved in the process also. Political figures are always

concerned with their own vote bank and they don’t care for the policies of Director General,

District Administration or Autonomous Bodies as the case may be. These politicians, sometimes,

ask the concerned authorities to regularize these abadis for very low and unreasonable price

48

which the authorities are unable to do. This hampers the regularization process. Again the

authorities may not be regularizing katchi abadis for various reasons i.e. the land being needed to

Govt etc.

5. Land Mafia

There is a group of persons connected with the property business who occupy land in katchi

abadis by showing themselves being poor and entitled. They get such property regularized and

sell it at a high price thus making profits at the expense of needy people. Their involvement puts

the deserved persons out of the land and the valuable public land is also, thus, wasted. This had

made the authorities reluctant to regularize katchi abadis and sometimes such regularization is

delayed for a long time. This mafia also includes the non-deserving people who occupy such

lands. These can be persons residing in villages who have their homes in villages as well as the

serving or retired employees of public departments who know the pros and cons of their

departments and can easily occupy public lands.

6. Lack of a Uniform Policy

In Punjab, at the same time, the Housing Authority, Lahore Development Authority and DG (KA

& UI) are running housing scheme and granting propriety rights to people. Because of their

separate working areas, each authority has its own policy of initiating housing schemes and a

uniform policy for the same purpose is lacking. The lack of a separate department and a uniform

policy for housing schemes hinders the process of regularization of katchi abadis.

7. Critical Analysis

Katchi abadis has been an issue since the birth of Pakistan. It is made on state land by people

who have no shelter and no land. In order to regularise such katchi abadis, the Government of

Punjab started their regularization process, first through the Local Govt Department till 1987 and

then by establishing a separate directorate known as Directorate General (Katchi Abadis &

Urban Improvement) Punjab.

49

In this regard, the first and foremost problem is that the state lands in urban areas are captured by

people which are valuable and expensive lands and are sold by Govt to such people on nominal

rates i.e. Rs.172 per marla. This is a great loss of land and money to state. This process also

involves the land mafia who, in the clothes of poor people, capture such lands and after getting

ownership rights from the Govt, they sell such lands to other persons for profit. In this way, it

has become a property business. The officials of various departments i.e. Railways etc to which

such lands belong also collude with the encroachers and it is with their consent that such

encroachers capture the state lands. When steps for removal of encroachments are taken by the

concerned department, such encroachers go to courts and get stay orders in order to prevent the

departments from removing them from state lands. The courts are also very liberal in issuing

injunctions to departments not to remove encroachers. Politicians, on the other hand, have their

role in preventing the departments from removing encroachments and also in regularizing katchi

abadis. They, for the sake of their votes, grants proprietary rights to encroachers of state lands at

nominal rates and thus the state lands goes out of the hands of public into private ownership. The

encroachers also have, sometimes, the support of local politicians in encroaching the state lands.

These encroachers might be the nears and dears of politicians and might not be the poor and

deserving people. The retired employees of various Govt departments are also involved in

encroaching public lands. It has come to our knowledge during field visit that the retired

employees of Railways department occupy railways land as they consider it their right and then

get ownership rights in the process of regularization.

8. Conclusion

The key legal characteristic that delineates a squatter settlement is its lack of ownership of the

land parcel on which encroachers built their houses. These could be vacant government or public

land, or marginal land parcels like railway setbacks or “undesirable” marshy land. Thus when the

land is not under “productive” use by the owner, a squatter for building a house appropriates it.

In many parts of Asia, a land owner may ‘rent out’ his land for a nominal fee to a family or

families, with an informal or quasi-legal arrangement, which is not, however, valid under law.

In Pakistan, state land falls an easy prey to encroachments because of the negligence of public

authorities in protecting these lands, involvement of politicians, connivance of officials of public

50

departments and inefficiency of the Govt. Needy and shelterless people require homes the

provision of which is the duty of state. As the state doesn’t provide them lands in rural areas so

they occupy lands in the prime locations of urban areas which are valuable. The state land needs

to be protected from encroachers by the Govt so that loss to the exchequer could be prevented.

9. Recommendations

On the basis of what has been mentioned above, this group suggests the following

recommendations with respect to regularization of katchi abadis as well as removal of

encroachments:

i. Increase in Price of Land

The poor and shelterless people are the ones who encroach state land and occupy it for dwelling

purposes. These people don’t have the necessary finances to own land so it becomes the duty of

state to provide them shelter. But the price at which currently the land is sold to them is very

nominal and results in loss to the exchequer so this amount may be increased upto Rs.2000 per

marla so that on the one hand, the people would be able to purchase it and on the other, loss to

the exchequer would be minimized. This would also minimize the chance of land mafia to use

the regularization process for income and profit purposes. To enable the dwellers to pay this

increased amount, the Govt may give them the option to pay the price in easy instalments.

ii. Shifting to Rural Areas

It has been always the practice that katchi abadis are developed in urban areas. These are very

expensive and valuable public lands and encroachers are attracted here due to this reason. In this

regard, the Govt needs to devise a policy of shifting these dwellers to public lands situated in

rural areas which are less expensive. This process, if effected, would avoid the possibility, in

future, of land mafia and other such kind of encroachers who are not the deserving. It would save

the expensive state lands from permanently occupied by encroachers and would also prevent the

increase in urban population and the unhygienic conditions in urban areas caused by katchi

51

abadis. For this purpose, the Govt may initiate public housing schemes in rural villages and may

encourage the poor people to construct houses for themselves on self-help basis.

iii. Not More than One Home

It has been observed, and is the practice, that one person in katchi abadis can occupy and own

more than one homes. It is a bad practice and needs to be discontinued. This practice enables one

person to have more while leaves the others destitute. People are grabbing public land and are

utilizing it beyond their necessities to the exclusion of other poor people. The Govt needs not let

them grab the state land. In this respect, amendments in relevant law are the need of the hour to

put a restriction on a person to own not more than one house in katchi abadis so that the needy

and deserving persons can have a home.

iv. Ousting Land Mafia

The main problem creating factor involved in the process of regularization of katchi abadis is the

involvement of land mafia in this process. It is gang whose business is the property dealing and

grabbing of land and making profits out of such lands. Not every person in katchi abadis is a

poor and needy, there are persons who occupy such land for the purpose of making profits. The

Govt needs to ensure that such land mafia are ousted from katchi abadis. In this regard, the Govt

needs to form a committee and an anti-encroachment cell at the Tehsil level whose duty would

be to identify such land mafia and remove them from state land. The other job of this cell could

the launching of awareness campaign in public for the purpose of protecting state land from

being encroached by unauthorized and illegal persons.

v. Establishing a Separate Department

Currently, the departments involved in housing schemes are Housing Authority, Lahore

Development Authority and DG (KA & UI). All are working parallel and are initiating housing

schemes/allotting houses to people. This has led the process from bad to worse. The Govt needs

to establish only one separate department whose duty would be to launch public housing

schemes, provide houses to people and give them ownership rights. Such department would

devise a uniform housing policy which would enable the Govt to handle the housing issues in

more proper and uniform way.

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vi. Raising Multi-Storey Buildings

If the Govt decides to keep the residents of katchi abadis in urban areas, then it needs to

construct high rise and multi-storey buildings. When these people are put in such buildings, they

will occupy less amount of land and resultantly, valuable urban public land would be saved.

Such buildings should be in conformity with the urban policies, rules and regulations as to the

restrictions upon high rise buildings upto a certain limit.

vii. Coordination between Federal and Provincial Agencies

There should be coordination between the provincial and federal departments. While vacating

state land of any federal department full support and coordination be provided by provincial law

enforcement agencies. Because state land belong to all and every segment should responsibly

play its role in vacating the encroached state land.

viii. Public Schemes in Urban/Semi-Urban Areas

Government should provide schemes like Jinnah abadis in urban areas as well. This will help in

lessening the rapid growth of katchi abadis. When a piece of land along with utility services will

be provided in the outskirts of the cities, then the prime land within the cities will be saved from

encroachments. One other example on the same pattern is the Hyderabad project of Khuda Ki

basti which is based on self-help. The Govt may urge dwellers to arrange for their homes under

such project on self-help basis.

ix. Strong Check of Lower Official by Superiors

The authorities of each public department should have a strong check on the lower officials of

the department so as to ensure that they have not connived with the encroachers. No

encroachment can be made on public land so easily without such connivance of the officials. The

only way out in this regard is that their work should regularly be monitored and checked by their

superior officers and strict action should be taken against any official who is found indulged in

such connivance.

x. Earliest Removal of Encroachments

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Each department should ensure that `any encroachment on public land id removed at the earliest

because as time passes, the encroachers strengthen their possession by taking further steps like

permanent buildings on such lands and then it becomes very difficult for the authority to remove

them. Rather the authorities are then compelled to give them ownership rights on payment of

nominal charges which are much below than the actual prices of the lands.

References:

1. Texts of relevant laws mentioned

2. PLD 1950 Pb. P.1022

3. The Punjab Katchi Abadis Act, 1992

4. Policy Instructions of Punjab Govt for Regularization of Katchi Abadis, 1985

5. Office of DG (Katchi Abadis & Urban Improvement) Punjab

6. Notifications Issued From 1985 to 2011

7. Resource Persons i.e. Director Katchi Abadis, LDA, DG Katchi Abadis Punjab, Deputy

Secretary Railways, Lahore and District Co-ordination Officer Lahore

8. Housing Issues in Urban Development of Pakistan by Prof Dr. Shabih Ul Hassan Zaidi.

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9. Urban Encroachment by IPIECA