Hundreds of acres of Faisalabad forest land seized during PML-N govt tenure: sources

FAISALABAD: The land mafia seized hundreds of acres of land belonging to the Forest Department in Faisalabad during the tenure of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government, it emerged on Tuesday. 

Quoting the Forest Department sources, ARY News reported that 277 acres land was occupied in different districts of the Faisalabad division, out of which 191 acres were state property, they said.

Sources said that 18 acres in Chak 250, four acres in Chak 648, 146 acres in Chak 534, 21 acres in Kamalia, seven acres in Jalal Deen Jhang and four acres in Chiniot were also taken over by the land mafia.

The Forest Department has sought help from the divisional administration to retrieve the land. ARY News reported that the control of 12 acres in Samandri area’s Chak 46 could not be reclaimed so far.  

In October last year, state land worth Rs 10bn was recovered by the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) during an operation in the city. It was reported then that certain government officials colluded with the land mafia, enabling it to encroach upon precious state land.