A multi-billion-rupee controversy has emerged over the conversion of 8,789 acres of state land in Jamshoro district into housing projects linked to a federal government foundation and other parties, The News reported.
The land in Deh Babar Band, Taluka Thano Bula Khan, adjacent to Karachi, was declared state property on December 14, 2022, by the then deputy commissioner of Jamshoro and additional commissioner-II of Hyderabad.
Following appeals, the former Member of Land Utilisation reversed the declaration the same day, designating the land private and setting its cost at Rs200,000 per acre, far below its estimated market value of Rs50 million per acre.
In September 2024, former Senior Member Board of Revenue (SMBR) Baqaullah Unar submitted a summary to the Sindh chief minister rejecting the Member LU’s decision, reaffirming state ownership, and warning of potential financial losses. The summary noted conflicts with the 2006 land grant policy and a Supreme Court restraining order from suo motu case 16/2011.
Days before his retirement, the SMBR, as head of a two-member board, reversed his earlier position, rejecting the Jamshoro DC’s revision application as time-barred and effectively allowing the housing projects to proceed.
Records show that in February 2021, the Additional Commissioner-II Hyderabad had cancelled land entries for the same acreage, including 1,116-13 acres under the foundation, after finding ownership documents questionable. A foundation representative said the agreed per-acre amount was deposited and denied wrongdoing.
Former SMBR Unar noted that the DC had referred the land for state declaration, but the full board dismissed it as time-barred, while the Member LU’s approval of the challan complied with Board of Revenue Act procedures.
