CDA continues operation against illegal slum in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) continued its operation against an illegal settlement in Islamabad's Sector I-11/1 for a second day on Friday, with the slum-dwellers busy moving their possessions from their abodes.

After clashes erupted between the protesting slum-dwellers and police on Thursday, the CDA said the residents had finally agreed to vacate their make-shift houses but only after at least seven officials of the CDA and police were injured.

The CDA had faced tough resistance from the residents of the informal settlement (katchi-abadi) known as Afghan Basti, which has been around for decades and contains over 800 houses. The CDA claims that the area had been illegally occupied in 2005 after it was previously razed.

The administration says it had sent them several notices and given them ample time to vacate the land before it initiated the operation with the help police and Rangers.


Related: Clashes erupt as CDA bulldozes illegal slum-houses in Islamabad

Residents and police clashed as CDA personnel moved ahead with demolishing the houses on Thursday using bulldozers and heavy machinery, with authorities responding by using teargas and police personnel forcefully evicting several residents.

After being presented in court today, 66 slum-dwellers and protesters arrested under charges of the Pakistan Penal Code and the Anti-Terrorism Act were remanded into police custody until August 4.