ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Monday approved, in principle, a proposal by city managers for the establishment of new sectors in the federal capital to cater to the growing needs of low-income federal government employees.

Earlier this month, the minister had banned land acquisition for housing schemes and suspended the district administration`s orders regarding acquisition of land in Bhara Kahu for the extension of the Federal Government Employees Housing Foundation (FGE HF).

The land was acquired under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act 1894, under which the government can obtain land from citizens for any public purpose, and the land owners are restrained from making any sale or purchase dealonthatland.At the time, the minister had noted that this was being done to `benefit a specific class` and ordered an inquiry into the land acquisition deal.

In a meeting held on Monday, Chaudhry Nisar directed the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration to establish a special cell to curb the illegal practice of land grabbing and address the grievances of land owners in the federal capital.

The special cell, the minister ordered, should consist of the additional deputy commissioner (revenue), the superintendent (SP) of Islamabad police and officials from the revenue department.

`Innocent and poor owners of the land in the ICT rural areas are hoodwinked by land mafia on rates far lower than the original market rates and this practice must be stopped,` an official Interior Ministry statement quoted him as saying.

According to the statement, the minister said that he would fully support all schemes and housing societies aimed at providing residential facility to the low income government employees.

The statement quoted him as saying that he had `no objection on land acquisition in the city subject to the fact that the buyer and seller of land are mutually agreed and the land is purchased at market rates` Wither sectors? The statement released by the ministry did not specify which sectors would be developed, and whether this would include already-planned sectors that are yet to be developed, or if new sectors would be developed from scratch.

According to city`s master plan, CDA was supposed to develop around 56 residential sectors, but it has only managed to fully develop 25 so far. These include sectors that were developed by private housing societies. According to a map of the CDA master plan for Islamabad, four `C` sectors were to be developed, but no serious work has been initiated on them so far.

There are supposed to be six sectors in `D` series, but only one D-12 has been partially developed.

Out of a total nine sectors planned in the `E` series, only E-7, E-8 and E-11 have been developed.

The coveted `F` series was supposed to have a total of eight sectors, of which only five have been developed thus far.

In the `G` series, only six of a planned nine sectors have been developed, while only four of a planned eight `H` sectors have been developed.

The `I` sectors are the ones that were originally supposed to house low-income government employees. Sector I-12, which was launched in 2005, was meant specifically for them, but this sector could not be developed to date.

According to a CDA official, Sector I-15, which was allotted to those who had been displaced by the government after their land was acquired, has also received no serious attention from CDA. `There are at least 15,000 small plots in these two sectors, but CDA has not developed them,` the officer said.

Over the past five years, CDA has only launched two housing schemes: Park Enclave I and II.

However, both these schemes are beyond the reach of even middle class individuals, as one kanal in this area is worth over Rs20 million.

The lack of new sectors has led to a steep rise in rents across already-developed sectors in Islamabad.

Even the recent exodus of commercial entities from residential sectors has not brought down housing prices in the already overpriced federal capital.