Shafaq News- Mosul
Field teams began surveying, re-parceling, and opening roadsfor more than 1,600 residential plots on the outskirts of Mosul, Raadal-Hadidi, Director of Nineveh Municipalities, told Shafaq News on Thursday,adding that technical staff started surveying old cadastral maps dating back to1993 on the first day of operations.
He said the works required a high degree of precisionbecause of overlaps with high-voltage electricity transmission lines, theTalkif water project, sewage networks, and a valley crossing the area.
“All surveys and mapping work had been completed incoordination with the Talkif Municipality and the real estate registrationoffices in Talkif and eastern Mosul.”
Heavy machinery has already begun opening roads and markingplot boundaries on the ground. The field operations follow a decision by theNineveh Provincial Council on June 30 to lift restrictions and permitconstruction in several areas on the outskirts of Mosul.
The decision is expected to end restrictions that haveaffected residents for more than two decades. According to local authorities,armed factions and military formations controlling the northern andnortheastern outskirts of Mosul had imposed a strict ban on construction inthose areas.
Nearly 30,000 families in Mosul hold official property deedsbut have been unable to build homes or use their land because of the restrictionsimposed by those groups. Local officials say the ban, justified by claims andconcerns over demographic change promoted by political actors in the area, hascontributed to a severe housing shortage and hindered reconstruction and urbanexpansion across Nineveh Province.
Residents of Mosul have repeatedly staged protests over theyears, demanding the removal of building restrictions in several residentialareas. Protesters voiced that they legally own the land and have called onlocal authorities to end the restrictions and allow them to begin construction.
