KMC documents reveal, mafia has taken over major parks in Karachi

KARACHI: Land mafia has illegally occupied eight major parks worth billions of rupees across the city, documents by the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) have revealed.

As per the documents, Hill Park, Aziz Bhatti Park, Jheel Park, City Park are among the parks which have been illegally occupied by the mafia over recent years.

Meanwhile, the Sindh High Court has dismissed bail pleas of over 15 suspects including Karachi Development Authority (KDA) officers nominated in cases relating to allotment of illegal land and china cutting (illegal carving).

Following the court’s dismissal of the bail pleas, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) officials took the suspects into custody.

In a report presented to the Supreme Court’s Karachi registry last month, the KDA had disclosed that thousands of square yards of 35,000 amenity plots in the metropolis had been taken over through 'china cutting.

The KDA had claimed in its report that illegal constructions in 27 different areas had been bulldozed by the authority within two days.

It was also revealed that KDA land worth over Rs1 trillion was illegally occupied. According to sources, land grabbers had sold KDA land in Surjani Town, Korangi, North Karachi, North Nazimabad, Gulshan Town and Nazimabad.

At least 12,000 residential and commercial plots were illegally sold for peanuts after they were cut into 80 to 1,000 yard plots.

More than 400 acres of KDA land is said to be occupied across the city. KDA officials say most of the land was occupied in the past 10 years.