Home

Current Issues

History of Karachi

Karachi Master Plans

Economy

Land Use

Housing

Evictions

Basic Urban Services

Transport and Traffic 

Management

Law & Order Situation

Education

Health

Environment

Karachi Census

Karachi City Maps

About URC Karachi

Some Important Links

URC Website Index

Contact Us

By 

A-2/2, 2nd Floor, Westland Trade Centre, Commercial Area, 

Shaheed-e-Millat Road, Karachi Co-operative Housing Society Union, 

Block 7 & 8 Karachi Pakistan; Tel: +92 21 - 4559317 Fax: 4387692
Web site : www.urckarachi.org, E-mail: urc@cyber.net.pk

URC has been monitoring evictions in the city since 1992. The reported figures show that more than 23,975 houses (excluding houses and shops demolished in the Lyari riverbed due to the Lyari Expressway Project) have been bulldozed by various government agencies since 1992. As a result of these evictions 188,201 people have been displaced, including women, children and elderly. No compensations or alternatives were awarded to the victims of these demolitions.

During first of half of this year (July – December 2006) the government bulldozed over 400 houses in the various parts of the city. A total of 2,400 people were made homeless as result of these evictions.

The details of demolished settlement since July 2006 is as follows:

· 175 houses were demolished in Ali Brohi Goth Ibrahim Hyderi Karachi on 3^{rd August 2006. These houses were demolished as a part of town’s encroachment removal campaign.}

· On 4th August 2006 50 houses were demolished Manzoor Goth Gadap Karachi. The Builders used police force to demolish houses and reclaim the land. People refused to leave their land and started rebuilding their houses on the same land.

· On 31st August 2006 80 houses were demolished in Rehri Goth. These houses were demolished as a part of town’s encroachment removal campaign.

· On 8th December 2006 around 50 houses of poor fishermen were demolished on Bundal Island were demolished by the government. According to Pakistan Fisher Folk (PFF) the Centuries-old settlement of fishermen on Bundal island off Karachi coast were razed at noon on 8th December 2006. Over 50 houses on the island were razed, resulting in injuries to Bashir Ali and two fishermen, Rajab Ali and Gul Hassan, while other locals who refused to leave their homes were subjected to torture. It also reported that lady Rahima, a woman whose family had lived on the island for more than a century, vehemently protested to the operation but her hut was demolished. The Federal Government had recently allotted Bundal and Buddo islands near Port Qasim to Dubai-based Emaar to construct modern city over 12,000 acres of lands with estimated cost of 43 billion dollars within 13 years. According to PFF more than 500,000 fishermen would lose their livelihood, as their entrance into the open sea would likely be closed. The PFF has since initiated a campaign on this issue. A number of protest rallies, press conferences and hunger strikes were organized. The basic objective of this campaign is to condemn government’s recent brutal move of razing settlements of fishing families and forcing them to evacuate their birthplace.

 

On 28th December 2006 another 45 houses were demolished by city government near Sultanabad M T Khan Road. The houses were demolished to widen road and make way to US consulate. The government has allotted US consulate for Karachi a new land at M T Khan Road.

 

The recent trends showed that the evictions have become an increasing threat to the poor communities across the city.

There are three major reasons

a. Mega projects and infrastructure development works

b. Increasing land values

c. Government feels these settlements are ugly spots on the face of city

 

In February 2006 city nazim (Mayor) announced removal of all settlements, which were established after 23rd March 1985. This action faced a lot of resistance from communities as well as opposition political parties. This forced the government to stop demolition of the settlements. URC supported the resistance movement against evictions with information and documentation.

In all the cases where evictions have taken place or where settlements are under threat, it has been observed that people need documentation of their settlements i.e case studies that can be used as evidence for dialogue/ negotiations. This can strengthen people’s resistance. Take the example of the case of the Katchi Abadis (informal settlements) along the Karachi Circular Railway tracks, where the ground situation was documented by URC. The information, printed as maps and photographs, was used as evidence by the peoples alliance stopping evictions.

OPP-RTI, as part of its sanitation program has mapped and documented about 416 Katchi Abadis i.e. 77% of the total Katchi Abadis in Karachi. Documentation is of the existing sanitation, water supply systems, schools, clinics and block maker’s yards. There is an assessment of peoples/govt.’s work and the investments, which shows immense community work. This information, used as evidence for advocacy, has been an important tool facilitating the adoption by the government of the realistic sewage disposal plan for the city. Need has therefore, been felt to add to the documentation on Katchi Abadis the information on the status of land, housing, its value and investments i.e additional information about the settlements that can assist people in resisting evictions and negotiating tenure.

OPP-RTI and URC are together in contact with community activists in these settlements who are a resource for information. Case studies of the settlements are being jointly prepared. The process would include the following:

· Documentation of the settlements – a continuous activity

· Publication of case studies of individual settlements

· The case studies to be used as evidence to:

- Strengthen peoples efforts at secure housing

- Informing media, professionals, govt. agencies, NGOs and CBOs so as to bring forth the reality.

· In the process enabling community members to come together in forums, moving towards efforts at speeding up the provision of land title

· The above are efforts to influence Government policy so as to enable the poor in securing their housing.

· Making efforts to change cut date up to June 2007 for regularization (awarding land titles) from 23rd March 1985.

 

 

Now URC in collaboration of OPP is exploring the ways to strengthen communities’ effort to secure their houses from bulldozing. During last six months a number of meetings were held with community activists in the various settlements. Furthermore a series of workshops are being planned to discuss evictions threats as well as larger housing/land title issues of the poor. In a first step only community activists will be invited in these workshops to develop a strategy on this issue.

The work on Lyari expressway was started on 21st January 2002. The government claimed to complete it within 30 months (by end of July 2004). A recent survey showed that so far only 60 percent (by end June 2007) has been completed.

The recent surveys showed that the city government has demolished 12,825 housing units to make way for this controversial project. Besides those 3470 commercial units (including shops, factories etc) were also bulldozed. No compensation or alternatives land were given to the commercial units. The expressway project will displace a population 225,000 at the completion.

The resettlement process lacks transparency and community participation, besides creating numerous hardships for affected communities.

The displaced and under threat communities regularly take out protest rallies against this project. Many such demonstrations were held in front of city government offices and at Karachi Press Club in recent months.

URC regularly circulated all information of these on forced evictions to the concerned organizations and media, which resulted publication of a number of news articles in different newspapers. These forced evictions have also widely covered by various TV channels and newspapers.

All videos, books and documents on Lyari expressway are available at URC on request.

URC has also been documenting incidents of fire in Katchi Abadis (informal and low income settlements) of Karachi since 1995. Since January ’97, a total number of 1,806 huts were gutted in different settlements. These incidents have rendered more than 12,204 people homeless. 19 minor children, four young girls, two women and four men were also burnt alive in these incidents, besides a number of severe physical injuries.

Recent incidents:

· On 1st February 2007 as many as 17 huts out 50 gutted by fire near Aziz Bhatti Park Gulsh-e-Iqbal

· On 24th March 2007, at least five huts were burnt near Al-Asif Square Sohrab Goth. Two fire tenders moved to the scene and extinguished the fire but only after five huts were gutted.

 

· On 10th April 2007 a fire erupted in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town when a kerosene stove burst in a hut, reducing at least seven huts to ashes. The fire broke out at around 3.35 p.m. in the hutment mostly occupied by beggars, just opposite the Urdu Science College within Aziz Bhatti police limits.

 

· On 24th December 2006 some 25 huts were completely gutted when a fire broke out in Sector-5C-2, area in New Karachi. 25 huts were completely burnt in the fire while 100 remained safe and no casualty was reported. The cause of the fire could not be determined.

 

· On 20th November 2006 two young sisters died in a house fire in Korangi. Their mother and brother have been admitted to the Civil Hospital with severe burns. The two sisters were four and seven years old. The fire broke out in a shanty town, damaging between 120 huts, occupied mostly by Bangladeshi-origin people. According to community a property dispute could be behind the arson attack.

 

· On 31st October 2006 around 60 huts were gutted when a fire broke out in Jumma Goth near Aladin Park in Gulshan-e-Iqbal. According to community a fire sparked all of sudden, reducing more than 60 hutments to ashes.
Over 400 people residing in the burnt hutments were rendered homeless.

 

 

 

Two main causes are identified for these incidents; one natural and the other planned. The planned incidents are those, in which the land mafia is involved. To draw attention towards fire incidents in Karachi, URC circulates reports containing facts and figures on the issue to the press, NGOs and government agencies.