PESHAWAR, like other major cities of Pakistan, has a number of poor families living in makeshift tents on vacant land. We have all seen them and have read about how local authorities have a tough time removing their `illegal` homes from government land.
These people are stuck in a dilemma.
These families are poor and have very few male members who can earn bread. So their childrenforcedinto childlabour or begging. Since they don`t own any land, they have to live on government land, and the law allows the government organisations to evictsquatters to avoid future claims to land.
They don`t own proper tents and the law does not allow them to create mud-walls, as that can be construed mud walls, as that can be construed as taking possession of the land. Therefore, the women and children are forced to live in makeshift tents even in tough weather. They do not have any access to clean drinking water and toilets. In fact, they spend most of their day looking for water and fuel for cooking.
The federal and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments could help them by giving them unused government land to construct houses or they can be provided with new bigger tents with weather and rain protection, as there are many suitable designs available at a low cost.
I request the federal and KP governments to create a system or law that would allow these families to live in safe and protective homes, where they have safe water and toilets available. Big land-owning organisations like Pakistan Railways and forest and highways can be asked to allot 15pc of their land to such projects.
