KARACHI: The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday directed the Sindh chief secretary for urgent measures to facilitate families of affectees, whose houses were razed in an anti-encroachment drive around Gujjar NUllah in Orangi Town, and Mahmoodabad Nullah.
The SC Karachi Registry passed the orders while hearing a plea from affectees of Gujjar, Orangi Town, and Mehmooodabad nullahs. The bench gave 15-day time to the caretaker government for approval of the funds to compensate the affectees.
The court summoned Mayor Karachi Murtaza Wahab, Chief Secretary, Commissioner Karachi, and other officials to address the issue.
Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar sought clarification from the relevant authorities on the status of the alternative homes initiative, to which the Chief Secretary sought ‘leverage’ from the court as the approval of the Cabinet is pending regarding the compensation to the affectees.
“Whether the cabinet is involved or not, the court order must be implemented,” Justice Ali Mazhar said.
Mayor Karachi stated that the relevant authorities are currently considering two options, which are to provide the affectees an alternative plot with construction or provide plots with cash.
“The land has been allotted, and the anti-encroachment drive will be commenced after the approval of the Chief Secretary,” Murtaza Wahab responded to a question.
Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar reiterated the urgency, stating, “One will be given, another will come; it is your responsibility to vacate the land.”
The focal person of the Sindh Government explained to the court that the 600 victims – to whom the compensation cheques were not provided – did not have valid CNIC, some of them did not contact, and some are dead. The Supreme Court directed to submit the list of the victims to the lawyer, expressing hope for progress in the coming days.
Mayor Karachi assured the court that a total of 491 compensation cheques are left, which will be handed over to the victims soon. The court urged every possible effort to hasten the process of distributing the checks to the affected families.
