Daily Times

Syed Murad Ali ShahSindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has directed all the divisional and deputy commissioners not to bulldoze any katcha house or cottage of the poor people; otherwise, he would take strict action against them.

The order was issued by the CM at a meeting in which the commissioner Karachi and deputy commissioners of the city were present while the commissioners and deputy commissioners of other divisions and districts of the province were taken on the video link.

The chief minister said that the provincial cabinet had decided that no house would be bulldozed during the ongoing shivering winter. He added that the Supreme Court had ordered removal of encroachment along the roads, footpaths and nalas. “But, the district administration has started bulldozing katcha houses along the embankments of the canals and leaving them and their children under the open sky,” he said and added “this is an inhuman act and would not be tolerated.”

The chief minister said that if any bungalow constructed on any encroached land was bulldozed, he would not mind it but “as far as the katcha houses or cottages were concerned, I would not tolerate their bulldozing. Shah said that on his instructions, Advocate General Sindh had met with chief justice of Sindh High Court and requested him to stop district & session judges from ordering the removal of katcha houses.