Mosul starts work to unlock 1,600 housing plots
Shafaq News- Mosul
Field teams began surveying, re-parceling, and opening roads for more than 1,600 residential plots on the outskirts of Mosul, Raad al-Hadidi, Director of Nineveh Municipalities, told Shafaq News on Thursday, adding that technical staff started surveying old cadastral maps dating back to 1993 on the first day of operations.
He said the works required a high degree of precision because of overlaps with high-voltage electricity transmission lines, the Talkif water project, sewage networks, and a valley crossing the area.
“All surveys and mapping work had been completed in coordination with the Talkif Municipality and the real estate registration offices in Talkif and eastern Mosul.”
Heavy machinery has already begun opening roads and marking plot boundaries on the ground. The field operations follow a decision by the Nineveh Provincial Council on June 30 to lift restrictions and permit construction in several areas on the outskirts of Mosul.
The decision is expected to end restrictions that have affected residents for more than two decades. According to local authorities, armed factions and military formations controlling the northern and northeastern outskirts of Mosul had imposed a strict ban on construction in those areas.
Nearly 30,000 families in Mosul hold official property deeds but have been unable to build homes or use their land because of the restrictions imposed by those groups. Local officials say the ban, justified by claims and concerns over demographic change promoted by political actors in the area, has contributed to a severe housing shortage and hindered reconstruction and urban expansion across Nineveh Province.
Residents of Mosul have repeatedly staged protests over the years, demanding the removal of building restrictions in several residential areas. Protesters voiced that they legally own the land and have called on local authorities to end the restrictions and allow them to begin construction.
