20000307

Blanket plan for Katchi

Abadi dwellers soon: Omar

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Local Government and Environment Omar Asghar Khan on Monday said that government is considering a comprehensive plan to resolve the problems of the "Katchi Abadis".

The plan involves, NGOs, government departments and dwellers of Katchi Abadis.

Presiding over a meeting on katchi abadis (squatter settlements) here, the minister said that government is fully aware of the problems of communities living in katchi abadis.

He said that the government is considering an integrated plan for the long-term resolution of the problems of katchi abadis.

The minister told the meeting that 40 percent of urban dwellers are living in katchi abadis and most of them belong to poor and deprived strata of the society.

"That is the reason the government wants to solve their problems on priority basis," he said.

In a briefing he was told that the urban population was growing in a rapid manner changing the ratio of rural-urban population but people were not getting housing facilities with this change growth ratio.

The minister stressed the need for low-cost housing facilities in urban areas for deprived communities.

The meeting, among others, was attended by Chairman Capital Development Authority (CDA) Khalid Saeed, Director General Katchi Abadis, Sindh, Tasnim Siddiqui, UNDP's Fayyaz Baqir and Chairman Urban Resources Centre Arif Hassan.ÑAPP