A clash broke out in Islamabad’s Sector I-11 between slum-dwellers and Capital Development Authority (CDA) officials on Thursday as authorities backed by some 1,200 police personnel and rangers launched an anti-encroachment operation against informal settlements in the area.All roads leading to Afghan Basti were blocked before the operation was launched to raze more than 800 illegal homes constructed in Sector I-11.The operation was met with resistance from residents of the settlement. Television footage showed clashes occurring between authorities and residents as policemen and women dragged protesting residents away from the site. Residents of the settlement were shown throwing stones at policemen who fought back, baton-charging the slum-dwellers and using teargas to disperse them.Bulldozers demolished temporary homes in the settlement as policemen held onlookers back from disrupting the process.The illegal occupants have become desperate, and they continue their protest for the third consecutive day, against the eviction plan. However, they have no voice in the parliament and no one to fight for them. The CDA will make sure they do not get in their way, as they have no legal standing. Transport vehicles are now making rounds to transport the former residents of the slums, many of whom will now have to leave Islamabad for good. The area looks like a war zone. It is customary for demolishers to allot alternate plots to the uprooted families in order to rebuild their hovels. However, there seem to be no talks on any such arrangements being made.The rapid growth of slums is not a disease but a symptom of the government’s incompetence coupled with the public’s apathy. The poor don’t build their lanes of tin roofs and mud chambers to ruin the otherwise pristine view of the city from one’s terrace. They do it because they too need protection from the elements and a place to sleep. Perhaps, most of these dwellers are willing to relocate if allowed alternate plots to set up homes. There is no doubt that these residents are illegally residing here, but the government cannot just brush them off, pretending that they have no moral responsibly for thousands of homeless people.
pk.shafaqna.com
