Islamabad - As part of its ongoing operation against illegal slums, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) has given July 31 as deadline to the dwellers of I-11 katchi abadi to vacate the area.
A source in the CDA told this agency that in the light of the court directives, the civic agency with the help of police and Rangers has started operations against illegal slums and the I-11 slum will be demolished.
According to the CDA source, around 1,300 illegal houses have been set up in the slum, which will be demolished after the deadline.
Meanwhile, residents of the I-11 slum have said that they will live in the makeshift tents at the same location even after their structures were razed by the CDA
While taking to this agency, the residents said that the civic agency was selective in its operation against encroachments as, according to them, influential encroachers were not being touched by the CDA while only poor slum dwellers were targeted.
Asim, Salman, Kishwar and other slum dwellers claimed that the CDA has even misled the court about encroachments and illegal settlements, as according to them, the civic agency was soft on people carrying out commercial activities in residential areas. “We migrated here from Swat when the war on terror begun there. Almost 95 per cent of the population residing here is Pakistani while the remaining five per cent are Afghans,” said Akhtar Ali, a resident of I-11 slum.
He said that it was the responsibility of the government to provide shelters to people who have left their property in their native place for the sake of the country.