THATTA, July 30 The revenue department has finalised the territorial map of an area admeasuring 15, 33,344 acres in four coastal talukas of Thatta district for the mega project of Zulfikarabad on Friday.

The talukas of Kharochhan, Keti Bandar, Shah Bandar and Jati consist of 199 dehs and are located on coastline from Ghaghar Phatak up to the Zero Point in Badin district.

As per the break-up, Zulfikarabad would consist of 404,584-12 acres of Qabuli (surveyed) land, 312,622-07 acres of Na-Qabuli (un-surveyed) land, 25,936-21 acres of kutcha state land, 175,44 acres of forest land, 711,531 acres (to be reclaimed from the sea), 3,505 acres of public-private land as entered in Village Form-VII, an area of 469,99-12 acres under grants, 10,622 acres under paths, canals and villages etc.

Information collected from the revenue sources revealed that the existing structures of 532 primary schools, 13 secondary schools, 11 middle and one higher secondary school would be included in the area to be inhabited by 275,898 people as per 1998's census.

In this connection, a meeting of price control committee presided over by the District Officer Revenue Thatta, Hadi Bux Kalhoro, and attended by the private members of the committee, had recommended Rs150,000 per acre price for normal land and Rs200,000 per acre for the land existing on the creeks.

However, the DO contended that this was not the final price and Member Land Utilisation, BoR, would be the final authority to re-assess and re-fix the rates during the next phase.

Meanwhile, activists of civil society believed that a large number of scattered settlements and villages have not been included in the official record of revenue as the record was set ablaze in the aftermath of assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

They said, due to this very reason the residents of such villages and settlements would definitely be compelled to vacate the sites without getting any compensation.

They were also of the view that the decision about 469,99-12 acres of grant land and 711,531 acres of land periodically devoured by sea was also a subject hard to be sorted out unilaterally by the revenue department because the figure includes private land holdings as well.

It's a recorded fact that during the military regime of General Musharraf a large number of investors, particularly from Karachi, had massively procured agricultural lands in Thatta coastline on exorbitant rates.

Some circles are of the opinion that no doubt that the building up of Zulfikarabad would open up enormous venues of livelihood and prosperity for the locals, but the government should also consider apprehensions of the indigenous population not to convert them into minority by depriving them of their legitimate rights inherited through their ancestors in the historical district of Thatta.