News
CDA Launches Phase II of Bari Imam Anti-Encroachment Drive, Issues 72-Hour Notices
By Mariam Khan
Real Estate Analyst
3 min read
The Capital Development Authority and the Islamabad administration have resumed their operation against illegal settlements and construction around Bari Imam and Noorpur Shahan, moving into a second phase after a three month pause. Red notices have been issued in six localities behind the Bari Imam shrine, giving occupants 72 hours to vacate, while encroachments have also been cleared in Saidpur village, E-11, and E-12, with more than 50 kanals of land reclaimed in this latest round.
What This New Phase Involves
The affected localities include Opar Mohalla Shehar and Banan Mohalla, along with several other localities situated along the Margalla Hills behind the shrine. Residents in the notified areas were given 72 hours to vacate, though affected residents have said they were not given adequate time to remove household belongings before enforcement proceeded. In Saidpur village and Islamabad's E-11 and E-12 sectors, CDA teams demolished both temporary and permanent encroachments, with police using loudspeakers to direct residents to evacuate and assisting in dispersing residents who protested the action.
The Compensation Question Remains Unresolved
The Islamabad administration has maintained that no compensation is payable for encroachments, while affected residents have said no alternative accommodation or compensation was being offered to anyone displaced in this phase. This is not a new dispute. We previously covered how Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency opened an inquiry into an earlier phase of this same operation, examining whether CDA's demolition in Nurpur Shahan proceeded before compensation claims tied to the area's original land acquisition, dating back to the 1960s, were properly settled. That inquiry, along with a related Islamabad High Court matter over an earlier order concerning a promised model village at Nurpur Shahan, remains ongoing, and this new phase of enforcement is proceeding without any indication that those underlying compensation and rehabilitation questions have yet been resolved.
Why This Operation Has Drawn Serious Scrutiny Before
This same broader operation has previously triggered significant resistance from residents, including confrontations serious enough that police registered cases against residents under multiple charges, including provisions of Pakistan's Anti-Terrorism Act. Given that history, the return to active enforcement after a three month gap, without public confirmation that the FIA inquiry or the court matter has concluded, means this phase carries the same unresolved tension between CDA's enforcement authority over state land and residents' disputed compensation and rehabilitation claims that has defined this case throughout.
What This Means for Land and Development in the Area
For anyone with property or development interests near Bari Imam, Noorpur Shahan, Saidpur, or the surrounding E-11 and E-12 sectors, this phase confirms that CDA intends to continue clearing encroached land in this part of the capital despite the unresolved legal and compensation disputes attached to at least part of the underlying area. Land cleared through this operation could eventually support formal development once legal questions are settled, but given how contested and unresolved the compensation issue remains, anyone evaluating property near this specific area should treat its legal status as unsettled rather than assume that cleared land is free of further dispute.