Sindh: 39710 acres forest dept land encroached upon

[Naveed Yaseen]

* Involvement of elected representatives suspected
KARACHI: The Sindh Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Sindh was told on Saturday that upon scrutiny of the records of the Sindh Forest and Wildlife Department, it was noticed that forest land measuring 39,710 acres was encroached, while the audit of the department’s accounts also revealed massive irregularities.

The participants of the PAC meeting, presided over by its chairman Jam Tamachi Unnar, were further informed that 22,889 acres of land of the total encroached area is in Nawabshah, 11,819 acres in Sukkur and 5,002 acres in Thatta.

Responding to the PAC, the secretary forest said that the encroached land of the forest department could not be vacated till a joint operation of the Rangers and police. “Some MNAs, MPAs and other political leaders are also involved in the encroachment and grabbing of the land,” he added.

Unnar asked the secretary forest to ensure the vacation of the forestland and directed him to increase the lease charges of forestland from the present charge of Rs 2,000 per acre to a more substantial rate.

The Sindh audit officials informed the PAC that in the Forest and Wildlife Department offices, it was observed that dues on account of rent, taxes and sales amounting to Rs 9.488 million have been outstanding against various officials and contractors. Unnar directed that a letter be written to the chief secretary to take action against the responsible persons so as to ensure the recovery of these dues.

In the meeting, the PAC regularised the appropriation of accounts of the Sindh Transport Department, as no irregularities were found in them. ppi

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