The Capital Development Authority (CDA) recovers state land worth about Rs1.3 trillion in Islamabad through ongoing operations against illegal encroachments, the authority said on Thursday, 29 October. Officials linked the campaign to protecting public property and to restarting development work that had long been delayed in several parts of the federal capital.
Where land was taken back
According to the CDA, around 600 acres of state land near the Prime Minister’s House were recovered during the drive. In Sector E-12, the authority recovered 1,135 kanals, which it said would allow development that had remained stalled for decades to move forward again.
In Sector C-17, the CDA demolished illegal commercial structures built on 116.8 kanals of land. Along Murree Road in Malpur, five plazas have been vacated, while work to recover a further 108 kanals in that area is still under way, the authority said.
How the CDA says the drive works
The authority described a process built on surveys, verification of revenue records, scrutiny of ownership documents and legal reviews, with enforcement meant to follow the law. It framed the campaign as a way to remove illegal encroachments and keep state land aligned with approved plans rather than informal use.
As CDA recovers state land across these pockets of the capital, officials also said the operations had opened space for long-delayed development activities in various sectors. That claim sits alongside the specific clearances already listed for E-12, C-17 and Malpur.
Public response and what comes next
The CDA said citizens had welcomed the recovery of state land and the expected restart of development, especially in Sector E-12. Further recovery work remains active where 108 kanals in the Malpur area have not yet been fully secured.
For now, the official picture is one of large-scale retrieval of public land by value, paired with site-by-site clearances that the authority presents as a prelude to planned construction and regulated use. How quickly projects actually resume on the freed plots will depend on follow-through beyond the anti-encroachment phase itself.
Aasan alfaaz mein
CDA ne Islamabad mein roughly 1.3 trillion rupay ki qeemat ki sarkari zameen wapas li hai. Encroachment ke khilaf is campaign mein PM House ke paas lagbhag 600 acres aur E-12 mein 1,135 kanal zameen shamil hain. C-17 mein ghalat commercial structure toray gaye, aur Malpur mein kuch plazas khali karwaye gaye. Iska matlab yeh hai ke sarkari zameen plan ke mutabiq use hone aur rukay huay development kaam phir shuru hone ka rasta khulta hai.
