Land grabbers encroach on school land

Karachi: In a ruthless bid to occupy state land illegally, the encroachment mafia in this mega city took over a government school, shocking children who reached the school after winter vacation.

Schools all over the country reopened after the extended winter vacations on Monday. The usual 15-day vacations were extended in the aftermath of the Taliban terrorist attack at a school in Peshawar in which 150 people, most of them students, were killed.

Land grabbers in Karachi taking advantage of the extended vacations demolished Akhtar Primary School, and erected their own edifice at the plot. The capture was exposed when children went to attend classes only to find a house instead of their school.

The situation came to light when national television channels reported this drawing the attention of the leadership and the authorities.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain, who lives in exile in London, called up Sindh governor Ishratul Ibad for immediately taking action against the grabbers and reconstruct the school.

Governor Ibad along with the commissioner Karachi and city administration rushed to the site of the school at the Green Town in Shah Faisal Colony in eastern district of the city.

The government machinery was moved to demolish the construction work of the grabbers under the supervision of the police. Education minister Nisar Ahmad Khoro also took the notice of the situation and asked the police to reclaim the school premises.

Officials at education department said that the land grabbers had also made an attempt to encroach the school but a legal case was filed against them and the grabbers were arrested. However, taking advantage of the longer winter vacations, the land grabbers fulfilled their design.

Encroachment and land grabbing has been one of the key issues in Karachi, which has been financial capital of the country. In a Karachi law and order case, being heard in the apex court of the country, the authorities submitted that thousands of hectares of government land were encroached by the mafia.

Land grabbing issues also entail assassinations in the city, which numbers to hundreds.