KARACHI - Administration of Asia’s largest cattle market is bent upon encroaching and ruining the infrastructure of private housing schemes, causing losses of millions of rupees to the builders and developers.
The managements of these housing societies allege that administration of the cattle market has forcibly occupied their lands and demolished the boundary walls of different schemes. “Cattle market’s administration is threatening us with dire consequences if we do not permit it to use our lands,” they added.
Talking to The Nation, an office-bearer of Mehmoodul Haq Society said on condition of anonymity that on Friday evening society’s union refused to allot its land for the cattle market, but on Saturday morning the market administration sent its goons who beat up security guard of the society and forcibly entered the cattle into the housing scheme. “Administrators of the market even demolished boundary wall of the society without permission,” he added.
He further said that builder of the society had laid sewerage and water supply lines over 23 acres of land at a cost of Rs15 million, which were completely destroyed due to the movement of heavy vehicles.
Similarly, administration of another housing society complained that it had built one-and-a- half kilometre-long road at the cost of 10million rupees for access to the scheme, which was also destroyed due to the movement of heavy vehicles.
The cattle market has been established in KDA Scheme 33, where a number of housing societies are situated. The result is that residents of these societies and localities have been forced to remain indoors as the administration has erected barricades in the market’s surroundings.
It is worth mentioning here that the land acquired to establish the cattle market had been lying vacant and considered away from the city, but in the last couple of years various private housing societies have emerged.
Residents of these localities told The Nation that they and their family members had to seek permission from the administration to pass through the market for reaching their homes and even had to remain in queues for the purpose.
Residents of Teacher’s Society, Memon Halari Society, Punjabi Sodagran, Karachi Bar Society, Zinatabad, Hashimabad, adjacent societies and private builder projects are the worst sufferers.
Some of the builders, who have recently launched their projects, have also been made to endure losses of millions of rupees as neither any client can reach the construction site nor even the workforce.
A builder, wishing not to be named, told this scribe that his company had invested Rs20 million in the current month, but all his investments had gone waste as the roads leading to the project were blocked by the cattle market and all sorts of posters and banners of the society had been removed.
Farrukh Arain, a real estate agent, who used to work in the locality, said that the sale and purchase business had come to a halt as it was difficult to take client to the site because of the cattle market situated on the way.
On the other hand, traders have no water for their cattle, which has caused deaths of dozens of cattle during the last two weeks.
Traders have complained that they are facing difficulties in purchasing water despite market administration’s assurance to provide water two times a day.
They have requested the administrators of surrounding housing schemes to provide water to them so that they could save their cattle from dying.
However, the administrators and other people have declined to provide water to the traders due to orders by the market administration.
They further said that water for animals was sold at higher rates, as the administration charged Rs10 per litre from the cattle owners.