Dear friends

Let me share with the friends that the computerization of land record in Punjab is already in the process.

According to The News on Sunday, June 06, 2004, Punjab Colonies Department has prepared a draft-Bill to retrieve 302,450 acres of state land from the (so-called) qabza group. This is in addition to 850,653 acres of land lying vacant under title of Punjab government - for which the Chief Minister Punjab, Pervez Elahi, has already asked district governments to re-count this vacant state-land so that he can distribute these lands among land-less.

In fact, there is no land left in Punjab (Northern Punjab) for such gifting. Most of these 1153,103 acres under Punjab government lie in Seraiki area i.e. in Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar, Rahim Yar Khan, Multan, Vehari, Lodhran, D G Khan, Muzaffargharh, Rajanpur, Layyah, Bhakkar, Mianwali, Khushab, Jhang, Sargodha, Sahiwal, Pakpattan,
Khanewal, T T Singh,

Apart from the traditional ways and means - like reserving local lands as State Lands, gifting away the land to influentials in the name of 'distribution to land-less farmers', leasing out such lands for long periods (90 years, and in fact extending the contracts repeatedly)encroachment - the water development projects are another huge source of land destruction and encroachment. For example, just in case of Chashma Right Bank Canal, thousands acres of local lands were acquired in canal regime (dis tributaries), water courses, and useless Flood Carrier Channels or drains for hill-torrents) while equal land size was destroyed in flooding and mitigation measures. And it goes on and on ........

Wasim Wagha