Urban Resource Centre

According to the 1987 satellite image mentioned above, 37 per cent of the population of Karachi lives in squatter settlements; 34 per cent in semi-permanent high density housing; 7 per cent in semi-permanent houses on small plots in planned areas; 13 per cent in permanent houses on medium size plots in planned areas; 6 per cent in large bungalows and 3 per cent in apartments. Observation and area studies seem to suggest that these figures have changed in the last decade. Katchi abadis would now constitute about 50 per cent of the population and the number of people living in apartments would be closer to 6 per cent of the present population.

Over the years, the government has initiated a number of innovative housing policies and projects for Karachi. However, the end product has never reached the poor whose need constitutes over 60 per cent of the housing demand. The reasons why this demand has not been met is that the supply was far too small as compared to the demand; the end product was unaffordable to the poor and there were no credit schemes to purchase land but only to build a house; the procedures for acquiring land and credit for house building were long and cumbersome and involved being viewed by officialdom with suspicion and hostility, and catering to corruption. This demand-supply gap is taken care of by the densification of existing settlements in the city centre, the creation of katchi abadis in peri-urban areas, and the postponement of construction or replacement of stock. The extent of the demand-supply gap and its repercussions are illustrated by the tables below.

Housing demand has been worked out as:

a. Demand due to population growth

b. Demand due to backlog

c. Demand due to replacement

Total

48,000

34,200

13,000

96,500

Formal sector housing supply (building permits issued by various authorities) was 26,700 units per year between 1987-91 against a demand of 96,500 units.

However, in spite of the development of katchi abadis, the number of temporary houses in Karachi has been decreasing and the quality of housing has been improving. This is because of an increase in the security of tenure levels in katchi abadis and due to the KAIRP of the government which gives security of tenure to those settlements which are on government land and have been in existence before March 1985. It is also because small contractors now provide materials on credit to katchi abadi residents and sometimes cash credit as well. They also provide technical assistance for designing and building a house. However, the katchi abadis established before 1985 keep expanding and densifying and there is no way in which the government can prevent this or prevent the regularisation of these trends. The table below illustrates the situation.

Type of Houses	‘70s (1969)	‘80s (1981)	Most Recent (1986)
Permanent or pucca	223,888	360,370	452,760
Semi-permanent or semi-pucca	179,730	360,370	534,688 +
Not permanent or katcha	86,382	137,285	90,552 +
Total	490,000	853,033	1,078,000

	‘70s (1978)	’80 (1985)	Most Recent (1988)	‘2000 (Projection)
Katchi abadi Population	2,000,000	2,600,000	3,400,000	7,070,000
No. of Katchi abadi Households	227,000	356,000	465,000	960,000

Source : Arif Hasan, Akbar Zaidi , Muhammad Younus, "Understanding Karachi" A publication of URC

Why is land important in Karachi? "Well, simply because there are more people and little space," is the argument, generally offered. But things are not so simple. There are many other reasons involved, and the complex nature of land holdings is said to be the major one.

"In other cities like Lahore, Rawalpindi and Islamabad most of the land is in private hands in the form of agriculture land managed by the owners themselves. But in Karachi majority of the land is state owned, which is easy to grab or mismanage," says Younus Baloch, director, Urban Resource Centre (URC).

According to the data prepared by the Master Plan and Environmental Control Unit of the KDA in 1988, nearly 400,000 acres of the 425,529 acres that make up Karachi's metropolitan area are in some form of public ownership.

Government of Sindh owns 137,687 acres, KDA 124,676 acres, Karachi Port Trust 25,259 acres, KMC 24,189 acres, Cantonment Boards 18,596 acres, Steel Mills 19,461 acres, Defense Housing Society 16,567 acres, Port Qasim 12,961 acres, Government of Pakistan 4,051 acres and Railways 3,119 acres.

However, since the above data was formulated, most of the undeveloped land belonging to KDA has been transferred to the Malir Development Authority (MDA) and Lyari Development Authority (LDA); as a result, KDA has been deprived of most of its assets.

Land is an important issue in Karachi. There is a constant struggle to acquire and develop land through legal or illegal means. A powerful nexus between formal sector developers, politicians and bureaucrats is active not only to acquire all vacant land, but even that, which has been set aside for recreational and amenity purposes.

Through this nexus, developers are also able to violate bylaws and zoning regulations, encroach upon compulsory open space, and even raise structures on natural drainage channels and infrastructure reservations.

In addition, government land and properties are sold at throwaway prices as political patronage and then developers make a "joint venture" with the party that has acquired the land. Thus, land use plans are routinely violated, observes a study.

For example, 80% of non-residential land was set aside for amenities and 20% for commercial purpose in the Corridor Plan of KDA Scheme 33. However, the entire area reserved for amenities has been converted into residential and commercial development. As a result, people of Karachi have lost over 827.3 acres of amenity space, which included 189.27 acres for parks and playgrounds, 73.6 acres for educational institutions, 66.5 acres for medical facilities, and 54.23 acres for transport-related facilities, noted a study "Understanding Karachi".

District Officer (DO) Land of City District Government Karachi, Najamuddin Sikandar, sees another reason for land mismanagement. There are over a dozen stakeholders including Karachi Port Authority (KPT), Pakistan Railways, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Civilian Aviation Authority (CAA), Port Qasim Authority (PQA) and the five cantonment boards involved in land controlling.

"But, unfortunately, land control given to the City District Government Karachi is less than 40% of the total land in Karachi," he says.

Sikandar sees no justification for cantonment boards located smack in the middle of the city. "Their bosses sitting in Islamabad are seemed to be oblivious to the kind of suffering citizens have been going through due to these cantonments," he says.

Empress Market is the most vivid example of the suffering of local people. Majority of people commuting Saddar Dawa Khana Road do not know that the area falls under the territorial limit of cantonment, and they curse district government for not paying attention to its shabby condition.

"When gutter water inundates the road, they leave it unattended and wait for it to reach the area falling under (defunct) KMC jurisdiction and become their responsibility," says Sikandar.

"Cantonment boards are a civic amenity providing institution, but they do not obligate this responsibility; rather they escape it," he adds.

According to a study, "Housing for the Poor: Failure of Formal Sector Strategies", penned by Arif Hasan, cantonment boards are in charge of local development, operation of services and maintenance of their areas. Their sources of revenue are conservancy charges, property tax, development charges and various fees such as for building permits and regularisation.

Cantonments were established under the provisions of Cantonments Act, 1924 during the British era, usually in military areas where both civilian and military personnel resided.

The area from Soldier Bazaar to Cantt Station comes under the control of Karachi Cantonment Board but one hardly sees any park or library in this area.

On the contrary, roadside plantation, clean footpaths and greenery are all maintained by the local government staff and not the cantonment.

Sikandar has observed that land grabbing has become a trade being done on a huge scale. "Do you think it is possible for someone to occupy government land and it remains unnoticed by the concerned authorities?" he questions cynically.

It has been noticed that the officials responsible to visit the site to check such activity and ensure immediate restoration of occupied land, themselves become a 'party' to it and do not visit the area in return of money paid by the occupiers.

Sikandar, who has been the Director Land of KMC and KDA, could not recall a single case where a land grabber was punished except a few cases in which violators were sent to jail for a few months.

Each year 1,000 acres of government land is encroached upon for developing katchi abaadis. Net earnings from this land are about Rs300m per year. This is shared between the middleman, government official, local police station and councilors.

In addition to these encroachments, land developed by the KDA is also encroached by the middlemen with the support of government officials. Figures for the estimate of this encroachment are not available, says a report.

Minarets indicating a mosque and a small house for the pesh imam in an uninhabited area are the first signs of land grabbing or emerging katchi abaadi.

Condemning the trend of grabbling land through building a mosque Sikandar says, "Offering prayer in a mosque built on occupied land is not allowed.

"Whenever Masjide Nabavi was expanded, the land was always purchased and never acquired," he reminds.

"It all started with the trend of allotting shops in mosque building. Commercial activity on the property of mosque should be banned by virtue of legislation," suggests Sikandar.

But people in katchi abaadis are not living free of cost and pay charges for water, electricity, sewerage and other utilities; but state authorities are not the beneficiaries.

Many see the Disneyland plan close to Clifton beach as another ploy to grab land.

"This is not a sincere endeavour to provide entertainment to Karachi. It is a ploy to swallow more land as it will be later subdivided and sold for high-rise project," comments Amber Alibhai of Shehri.

She says that Shehri had filed a case and won against the owner of Costa Livina, which was being built under the guise of a Revolving Restaurant.

"This expensive Disneyland project will convert this open space into a money-making racket for the benefit of a few. DHA has already encroached upon the beach by reclaiming it for expensive restaurant and housing estate. Environment of the area will be totally destroyed vis-a-vis traffic, parking congestion, etc. They already suffer acute jams every Thursday at Abduallah Shah Ghazi Mazar," says Alibhai.

Generally, it has been observed that land value decreases in thickly populated areas, but for Karachi the situation is reverse.

"Despite swelling population and traffic in inner city areas, land value has not come down because the government has failed to provide infrastructure or give development facilities to new housing schemes planned in distant areas. Therefore, people prefer to stay in congested areas," observes Younus.

"For example, no development work has been done either in Scheme 33 even after passing of 20 years, or Hawkesbay Scheme announced in 1988," he adds.

About the unchecked illegal construction activity, Younus says that no land has ever been marked for future development due to which the city, unlike other modern cities, is expanding horizontally.

"Bangkok and Singapore have been developing vertically with high-rises and skyscrapers. But Karachi is expanding horizontally because land is easily available and people do not know about the land marked for future land."

"If you have money you could easily get a power of attorney to get a piece of land transferred in your name and become the owner of property in Karachi. Many Afghans have bought land through this way during the last few years," he says.

"In other countries governments announce the lists of state land every year. But we don't see this practice here despite the fact that majority of the land is state property," observes Younus.

Information regarding land is not easily available to communities and NGOs. Government departments keep it a secret. Nor has this information been compiled in such a manner that it can be used by the affectees or by people struggling to protect land. In addition, there are major contradictions between the plans and written records, a report on "Evictions" observed.

"The government should issue the listings of state land each year so that people and civil society organisations could keep a check on its violations and move court against it," demands Younus.

City planners have also been urging the government not to change the land-use of plots as it puts an additional pressure on the already overburdened civic amenities and infrastructure.

Infrastructure--electricity wiring, pipelines for water supply and sewerage, telephones, roads etc--is laid down according to a plan to cope with demands of a certain number of people. When the land-use of a plot is changed from residential to commercial, the number of people using the area increases by five times and the infrastructure could not meet the demands, so after absorbing some increase it eventually collapses.

About the case of 10,000 files missing from the record room of defunct KDA, Younus says, "It was a common practice in the said department. When they stole files they changed the ownership after adding new papers to these files."

DO Land says such incidents occur for the reason that land record inventory has never been maintained. "The work on the inventory has started, but it's a tedious and hectic task," says the DO.

Karachi, the present boisterous, rambunctious and pretentious city, bubbling with furore, frenzy, and fury was once, like all present-day cities, a small village. Historians tell us that its old name was Kolachi after the name of an old woman who was head of the village. She commanded respect among the habitants, and as a mark of respect, they named the village after her.

The other view is that it was a village of a Kolachi tribe, which was Baloch from maternal side and Soomras from paternal side. In my view its name was Kalanchi or Kalachi which was in currency even up to the period when Shah Abdul Lateef Bhittai (1689-1752), the great mystic poet of Sindh, was composing poetry and immortalising folktales, legends, historical and semi-historical characters of Sindh.

Bhittai has also used Kalachi as a name of the village Kolachi in his poem Ghattoo meaning the killers. It is a linguistic rule that letter L changes with letter R and vice versa. For example, letter L of Urdu word suli (gallows) takes form of suri in Sindhi.

It was according to this rule that, with passage of time, letter L changed with letter R and old Kalachi became Karachi.

I think Kalanchi is a combination of two words kalan and chi. Kalan means big and chi means settlement or a village. Another Sindhi word pore is also used as suffix for a village fortified with mud walls. It is used all over the Sub-Continent and even out of the Sub-Continent, like Singapore means the Village of Lions (sanga =lion + por=fort) There are many towns and villages in Sindh carrying chi [ITALICS] as a suffix like Dabechi-Golarchi, etc.

Though Karachi as a seaport gained importance only in the 19th Century but there are many Sindhi folktales having locale of old Lalanchi. One of the tales is "Moriro and Mangermuch" (Moriro is the name of a character of the tale and diminutive of more meaning peacock; and Mangermuch means crocodile).

Folk tales also tell history in a fictionalised and mythological way. They are communal forms of expression depicting history, culture, moral values, and ideals, religious and social precepts of a particular community, imaginative explanation of natural order and cosmic forces, thus verbalising something universal. George Santayana, the twentieth century philosopher, defined man as an incorrigible animist who interprets all things anthropomorphically; he personifies and dramatises nature and creates myths.

Though people don't literally believe in those myths, but the poetry of those myths helps men to bear the prose of life.

In good old days, there was a village of fishermen called Kalachi. The main source of subsistence of the villagers was fish catching; they used to row their boats deep into the sea to catch fish. In the locality now known as Clifton, was a hazardous whirlpool called 'Kalachi jo Kun', meaning the vortex of Kalachi. Boats were caught and sunk in the vortex.

Once a crocodile took abode in the whirlpool and it devoured the crew of the boats, caught in the whirlpool. It was the spot where one Hindu Seth Bhjomal later built a mud fort and extended it to present Kharadar and mounted it with foreign made canons.

There was another village of fishermen known as Sonmiani at a distance of 60 miles from Kalachi. There lived in the village one fisherman named Aoubhayo. He had seven sons, all strong and well built, except for his youngest son Moriro who was short-statured and handicapped; as such he was not taken for fish caching.

The six brothers used to go for their catch early in the morning and return after sunset. One day they did not return home.

It worried the villagers. They went out in their search and discovered that their boats were caught by the whirlpool and the crocodile had devoured them. Learning about the tragic death of his brothers, Moriro, though handicapped, resolved to take revenge and rid the villagers of the calamitous crocodile. He got an iron cage made, fitted with pointed spikes on its outside, and tied with strong ropes. The ropes were fastened in the necks of two strong male buffaloes. He sat in the cage and it was lowered in the whirlpool. He had instructed the villagers to pull out the cage when he shook ropes inside.

As the cage was lowered the crocodile, seeing a prey, pounced on it to swallow it. It got hooked and pierced with spikes. Moriro shook the ropes and the cage was pulled out along with the killer crocodile enmeshed with the cage. Villagers incised its stomach and brought out skeletons of the dead brothers and buried them near the northeast side of Karachi, at the foot of the mountain, and Moriro the spent rest of his life as keeper of their graves.

The place even today is called the "grave yard of Moriro". It is at the distance of two miles from main Karachi, near the cremation ground of Hindus.

Shah Lateef Bhittai has used the tale to elucidate his religiosity and spirituality by combining his visionary gleams to the tale.

He does not narrate the tale, but appropriates certain situations, events, and some distinct features of the tale having rich implication. They stand for more than what they are on the surface and hint at a larger meaning. It is a dramatisation of forces of good and evil in human soul—the exteriorisation and symbolisation of the inner struggle of man with beast in him who spiritually devours him and a whirlpool where soul sinks on his spiritual voyage.

With suggestion the poet evokes ideas, feelings, over and above the actual sense and sound of the word. Sea could be interpreted as a symbol of infinity, the other world as well as this world, the mystery of life and death, the enigma beyond comprehension, and crocodile as man's base self. Hence Shah says:

"Men of knowledge got confused and the Brave ones got perplexed (to come upon the mystery of the sea), They went together and were dragged in The vortex, Forgetting all their knowledge and wisdom.

Having discovered the vortex and crocodile inside him, man Embarks upon search for the vortex, which is beyond search. But eventually he succeeds in killing the crocodile and his face Glows with spiritual salvation.

While searching for the whirlpool they found it, And then they started searching that vortex, which is beyond search, They killed the crocodile and their faces are shining with Happiness."

At places the vortex connotes mysterious terror of death. Whosoever goes to the vortex never returns back to tell as to how he was caught in the vortex. At places the poet, like imagist poets, uses concrete images to covey something abstract. The crocodile devours six brothers, the night has set in. Their empty boat is swinging on waves and oars and poles floating, their turbans, left behind in the boat, are moistened with dew. Their wives, standing on the shore of the roaring and rumbling vast and illimitable sea, are moaning and wailing for their departed husbands. Being solely dependent for their livelihood on their husbands in a male society they are now in the clutches of insecurity:

"There was such a terror in the whirlpool That whoso neared it was lost, And no one tells us as to how he was entrapped and Caught by the crocodile.

Night set in and dew moistened their turbans, Their oars floated on water and the poles went down the stream, No one came back from Kalachi. (Without my fisherman) I now depend on borrowed fish, Bring our fishermen back o God!

Don't let me down before the fish merchant So that I borrow fish from him, It is now that my pride has realised their worth.

Every day I see many fishermen catch And bring home fish, But our fish catchers don't come home, It kills me to see their places in the house, They left the world and slipped in the deep sea.

Yesterday the fish catchers resolutely went in the sea O mother! I am suffering pangs of their separation, Leaving me behind in pain they slipped in the deep sea.

Yesterday the brave brothers with spears in their hands Went to Kalachi, It became late and they did not turn up, The band of wonderful ones were caught by the whirlpool."

A government employee, upon retirement, hunted for a dwelling with the money he had received after his retirement, and found a house in a low-cost housing project located near Safoora Goth.

After making the initial down payment, he bought the 120 square-yard house. As he was a bit hard on cash, he availed a Rs. 200,000 house building loan.

Before buying the flat, he had visited the building control office to inquire about the legitimacy of the project and satisfied himself regarding the solvency and reputation of the builders, building plans, title documents, NoC of the project, completion period, etc.

He found that the builder was in legitimate possession of the land. Layout of the scheme and building plans were duly approved and the scheme was being advertised daily in prominent newspapers, and on electronic media as well.

After the handing over of possession by the builder, the buyer started living in the house happily.

He paid property tax, sewerage tax, conservancy, fire charges and water tax (though he had to buy water from tankers).

After passing of some years, he decided to move closer to his relatives living in some other locality and, to his horror, he found out that his property stood frozen and he could not dispose of it to the buyer of his choice.

In another case, a businessman lured by the advertisement of a housing project offering immediate possession of flat in a completed housing project on half payment of the total Rs 1.3m price, and payment of the remaining amount in monthly installments bought a five-room apartment in a housing complex located in Block 13-D of Gulshane Iqbal in the year 2000.

He was issued a possession letter and acknowledgement receipt by the builder upon the payment. Lease documents were to be issued after the payment of full amount.

Upon insistence of his family when he decided to sell out his property to move closer to his in-laws living in Federal B Area, he learnt that the entire project had been frozen and allottees were asked to pay some amount of money as 'difference' to get it 'defrosted' or to get the lease documents.

When the allottees asked about the amount of money to be paid as difference and the time the process would require, the site office said they had not received any order in this regard, therefore they had no knowledge about it.

There are a number of such cases of innocent allottees facing the similar fate. The affectees who are desperate to get their grievances heard are so scared of persecution that none of them wanted to disclose his identity.

Their 'crime' is that they unknowingly made bookings in housing projects raised on the plots allotted by various governments during the period 1985-2000, to their favourites who later sold these plots in the market. Now these allotments of plots for residential, commercial and industrial purposes have been cancelled through the Sindh Government Land (Cancellation of Allotment, Conversions and Exchanges) Ordinance promulgated in January 2001.

According to an affectee, there are four types of allottees: those who bought the plot and left it unutilised; those who have started construction work; those who obtained house building loan but have not yet started living in; and lastly, those who have been living in the property frozen by government notification.

"It has been an accepted practice that chief ministers and ministers exercising their discretionary powers make allotments of land, grants, exchanges in relaxation of rules and ban to individuals and their favourites who then upon their free will dispose them off at market rate. And no hitch is created or objection raised when the title is transferred or lease is mutated," said a PPP leader, Munawwar Suharwardi who claimed to advocate the rights of the people of Karachi.

According to a special report 'Discretionary Allotments in KDA Schemes 1985-1993' carried by daily Dawn [ITALICS] on 1 October 1993, five chief ministers of Sindh during the eight-year period (from 1 January 1985 to 20 July 1993) allotted 2,284 plots worth Rs. 3292.7m.

The report stated that former Sindh Chief Minister Syed Ghaus Ali Shah allotted 1,234 plots; Qaim Ali Shah and Aftab Shahban Mirani 244 plots, Jam Sadiq Ali 402 plots and Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah 117 plots.

PPP Housing & Town Planning Minster, Agha Siraj Durrani, allotted 286 plots, MQM Minister for Housing and Town Planning (during Jam Sadiq Ali government), Dr. Ishratul Ibad, allotted seven amenity plots and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto awarded 16 KDA discretionary plots, said the report.

These plots, the report said, which included prime commercial, industrial and residential plots and flat sites in KDA schemes during 1985-1993 located in Clifton; Federal B Area; Gulshane Iqbal; Gulistane Jauhar; Gulistane Jauhar Extension; Surjani Town; Hawks Bay; Korangi; Landhi; Meroville 1 (SITE); Nazimabad; North Karachi; Qasba Township; North Nazimabad; Dilkusha; Metroville 2 (Landhi); Metroville 3 (Scheme 33); Shah Latif Town and; Corridor Development Project.

And now the third and fourth parties are being asked to pay money in the shape of difference amounts, while those chief ministers who made these allotments have been sharing power with the government, Suharwardi said.

"One of these chief ministers has now been made the federal minister and the other one is sitting as the chairman of the senate," he said and asked why did not the government catch those chief ministers, no matter of which political parties, whether it was PPP, PML (N) or other; why harass the third person who has nothing to do with the whole affair and is a bonafide purchaser.

Suharwardi said no such notification has been issued in other provinces like Punjab, NWFP or Balochistan but only in Sindh, only to squeeze the people of Sindh, especially Karachi. He said a chain reaction or domino effect has taken place because of the slump in construction industry because people who purchased this land also included investors, land developers and builders.

Construction activity has decreased considerably mainly due to paucity of funds since rolling of money had stopped due to ban on sale or transfer of title of properties.

Many people, including engineers, foremen, labourers, masons, etc., have gone jobless.

The consumption of cement also fell down because new projects were not being started. Production of paints, varnish, nails, doors, window locks, sanitary, etc. fell down and these respective industries suffered huge losses.

The worst sufferer is the government itself. They are incurring billions of rupee losses, which they could have recovered in the form of taxes, cess and duties and in shape of profit earned by HBFC in advancing of loans. Since many housing units are lying vacant and unused and future disposal is also uncertain, people have stopped paying installments of loans, which they had borrowed.

Similarly, no electricity, water or gas is being consumed in these units, which is affecting the revenue of utility companies.

When District Officer (DO) Land, City District Government Karachi, Najmuddin Sikandar, was asked about the number of frozen plots he said though no record had ever been maintained, concerned authorities randomly offered the figure of 10,000 cases. "The office has not been able to computerise the record of such allotments, thus we do not have any list of these plots. And it is almost next to impossible for us to see every file to check when the allotment of the plot was made," Sikandar said.

He said that these allotments include flat sites, commercial sites, amenity plots and industrial plots.

Though all KDA schemes throughout the city are affected by such allotments, Clifton is the massively affected area. Gulistane Jauhar and Gulshane Iqbal were other such areas.

"A few plots might have also been issued in saturated schemes like F. B. Area as well," he said.

He said the 'Sindh Land Regularisation Committee' had managed to get the residential plots measuring 120 square yards restored in Surjani Town.

About the rate of differential amount to be paid by an allottee he said the issue could not have still been resolved.

The Chairman of Association of Builders and Developers (ABAD), Hafeezur Rehman Butt, who had just returned from a Board of Revenue (BoR) meeting that discussed the issue, said on 25th May they were holding a meeting with the Sindh Governor in this regard.

"Frankly speaking, little could be done on the BoR level, therefore, we are going to hold a meeting with the governor and convince him to amend the ordinance, as he has the competent authority to do so," he said.

Penalty on third party is unjustified and we have been making utmost effort to get relief for the ordinary allottee, Hafeez said.

"We will try to convince the government to condone the cases of allottees who have started residing in these projects," he said, adding that the number of finished housing projects stood at 210 cases. While 1470 plots were frozen throughout the Sindh province, he added. He said the owner of a one acre plot would have to pay Rs. 7.5m as a differential amount (difference between the market price of the land and the price at which it was favourably allotted) to get his property regularized.

Elaborating he said, for example, a one acre plot in Gulistane Jauhar allotted at the rate of Rs.500 per square yard 10 years ago could be de-frosted after paying Rs.1,500 per square yard difference.

The politicians allotted prime pieces of land to their crooks and cronies at a rate lower than the market rate that ranged between Rs.500, Rs.100 and Rs.50 per square yard, Hafeez said.

Sindh Local Government Minister, Muhammad Hussain, deploring the slump in business activity in the whole of urban Sindh said that at the moment they had not taken up the case of allotments frozen under Sindh Land Cancellation Ordinance. But they would see to it after deciding the cases relating to Sindh Disposal of Urban Land Ordinance 2002 and Sindh Land Abolition Ordinance 2002. A committee has been constituted to work out a plan on how to resolve these cases, he informed.

Suharwardi suggested that in the backdrop of harassment cases against Muslims all over the world, the Centre should adopt a just policy for Sindh.

A uniform policy, he said, could invite huge investments for Karachi and increase the figure of 70% revenue to 80%.

An affected allottee suggested that all laws having antedate or enforced with retrospective effect should be repealed or be amended so that they affect the primary beneficiaries.

Freezing of properties or ban on transfer of titles where third parties were involved, who have no relation with the allotting authority or allotee, should immediately be removed.

Committees should be formed for determination of real beneficiary and for defining the loss caused to the government, and this amount should be recovered from the primary or first allottee; allotment of land must be regularized without any further loss of time.

On 28 September, the Prime Minister took serious notice of the rising multitude of dubious sounding housing schemes that are attracting people's investment.

He gave on the spot instructions to nip in the bud these potential scams in making.

The steps taken by the PM were long due to save the innocent and less informed common people from losing their hard earned savings. However this state of affair refers to several realities that require timely review and action.

There is a dearth of investment opportunities for common people who have limited capital and market know how that could ensure reasonable and riskless returns. With savings schemes becoming almost redundant and hot real estate markets entirely inaccessible for investment, little opportunity remains for this category of society.

Stocks and capital are traded in an upper society that is socially and culturally incomprehensible for this class. Besides, there are many people who seek to obtain a piece of land to build a house for residence without any investment or business motive behind it. Thus the issue of housing needs to be addressed on a realistic basis.

There remains a massive housing need in the country. Researches have clearly shown that the low and lower middle income groups are the main categories that is affected by this shortage.

According to the statistics, the total shortage stood at over 27.3 million units in the country in 2003. In the urban sector, this shortage stands at over 1.2 million. Rise in population, persisting housing backlog, migrations, sociological and demographic changes are the main causes that contribute to this shortage.

In rural areas, the indigenous mechanism that provided for housing is falling apart. Peasants were provided housing against the labour and services that were contributed by them and their families to the land owner.

Materials for construction were obtained from collectively owned communal lands called as 'shaamlath'. Mud, thatch, wood, reef and other materials were cheap and abundant.

Landowner and his subjects co-existed in this semi-barter society for ages. Cash economy, rampant sales/transactions of lands and increasing ingress of commercialization of farming made these peasants homeless.

Communal lands were appropriated by the influentials for market benefits. Thus the landless peasants and their fellow artisans became victim of circumstances. The state has not been able to come up with any viable option for this critical mass of rural homeless whose number is rising alarmingly.

Expansion of road network in various rural districts of the country created a market for commercial sales of land. Land owners, fully aware of the emerging commercial potentials, teamed up with real estate speculators to convert agricultural land into housing estates.

It pushed the peasants and tenants towards the large cities thus increasing the burden to an unbearable proportion. Ribbon developments along highways, major roads and farm to market roads is on the rise in central and northern Punjab, Sindh and NWFP.

Situation in the large cities is even worse. A sizeable number of large cities are already infested with kutchi abadis and illegal sub division of agricultural land. Karachi and Lahore are two critical examples of the two phenomena. There are no institutionally initiated options available for housing the urban poor.

Scores of researches in this sector have identified the main reasons for this state of affairs. The foremost issue is the access to land. Traditionally land was regarded as an asset that was distributed according to the criteria of social need.

This mechanism ensured its smooth supply to all categories of the society. The status of land has now changed to a tradable commodity. Its distribution is now determined by market forces.

The state policies are too feeble to affect this massive enterprise. Besides the city and regional planning, which used to regulate land uses, has become a redundant exercise.

Therefore the resourceful entrepreneurs have made land and housing as a value added industry. No room obviously remains for poor who do no have the means to access the land market.

Housing credit is another issue which is extremely elusive for the urban poor. There are many pre-requisites that have to be fulfilled in order to benefit from any formal credit facility.

Properly titled land, definite asset base, verifiable source of formal and permanent income are a few of them. The poor have no chance to fulfil this criterion. Their foremost need is land for which no credit is formally available.

The poor are employed on daily wages or in the informal sector where no formal documentation exists. Thus they can not prove their income status. Even small scale entrepreneurs do not benefit from formal credit.

Rising conversion of far away peri-urban land into settlements has become one of the recent options for fulfilling this most basic need. Most of the large cites are now experiencing third generation squatter settlements. In such localities the provision of services has becomes a major issue.

Water supply, sanitation and transportation are seldom accessed. People build community level infrastructure however its linkup to any infrastructure network remains a sore issue. Baldia Town in Karachi is an example where land subdivision is still being done by informal land sub dividers.

Due to the gravity of the issue related to the housing sector, several important steps need to be taken. Comprehensive research is needed to address the current situation of rural housing.

Old models and welfare approaches of doling out inappropriate land are non-working options which must not be applied. Pilot projects related to incremental housing schemes in urban areas need to be adopted as a policy for housing the low income.

This will have a positive impact in situations where state land can be made available for the low income groups. Credit products need to be worked out to enable the low income groups to access land from the conventional projects. And above all, revival of city and regional planning exercise must be undertaken in urban areas to ensure stock taking of land assets and affirming emerging land uses.

a) The process of the regularization and upgradation of the pre-1985 katchi abadis shall continue as per the current policy.

b) The concerned land owning agencies shall inventorize all katchi abadis which have come into existence after 1985.

c) From amongst the pre-1985 katchi abadis, those settlements which need to be relocated shall be identified. This exercise shall be completed by the Provincial Governors and the concerned Ministries by 28^{th
February 2001.}

d) The Provincial Governors shall identify appropriate land, preferably within the cities and towns, in coordination with the concerned Ministries, where the evictees of katchi abadis can be relocated, by 28th February 2001.

e) Resettlement plans for the residents of katchi abadis identified for relocation shall be drawn up by the end of June 2001.

f) The work of relocating evictees of katchi abadis shall commence by the end of June 2001. Until that time, there shall be no evictions.

g) The Capital Development Authority, Islamabad will finalize one model urban shelter project by the end of April, 2001.

h) A plan for upgrading the pre-1985 katchi abadis which would remain, shall be prepared on the lines of the model proposed by the Director General, Sindh Katchi Abadis Authority

i) The Ministry of Railways and the Ministry of Housing and Works shall be associated with all measures concerning the relocation, rehabilitation and upgradation of katchi abadis.

j) The Ministry of Railways will issue NOCs for all pre-1985 katchi abadis under the 1985 policy, other than those to be relocated under sub-paras (c) & (d) above.

k) In future, all housing policies launched by development authorities at the federal and provincial levels shall include plots for low income people which shall be offered to them at affordable prices.

l) The Provincial Governors will constitute committees comprising representatives of all concerned to implement these decisions. The Federal Minister for Environment. Local Government, and Rural Development will coordinate with the Governors in this regard.

Unanimously passed the Sindh High Density Development Board Bill, 2010, which will identify and earmark high-density zones in the urban centres of the cities in the province.

The board, whose chairman will be the Sindh governor and co-chairman the chief minister, will earmark high-density zones in consultation with the respective utility agencies, keeping in view the general principles of the master plan.

Members of the boards will be the local government minister, chief secretary, secretary for local government, nazim of the relevant district, chief controller of buildings and an EDO or the chief of the master plan of the district concerned.

The bill, No 14 of 2010, was made part of the agenda through supplementary order of the day. Law Minister Ayaz Soomro introducing the bill requested for dispensing with Rules 84, 85 and 86 for immediate consideration by the house.

Speaking on general principles, the law minister made a strong case in support of the bill aimed at allowing the construction of high-rise buildings by earmarking zones in urban centres with high-density population in the province.

Local Government Minister Agha Siraj Durrani speaking in support of the bill thanked the coalition parties for their cooperation and support of the bill which, he said, was in accordance with the vision of the PPP leadership for setting up a high-powered board to identify high-density areas in urban centres such as Karachi to be designated for vertical development.

Prisons Minister Haji Muzaffar Shujra, Minister Syed Sardar Ahmad of the MQM, Nusrat Sehar Abbasi of the PML-F and Humera Alwani of the PPP welcomed the bill.

After its third reading, when the bill was put to a vote, it was passed unanimously.

In Search of an Identity

Muzaffar Ali has no documents that prove he is a Pakistani citizen.The only document he has is a ticket for the passenger ship he travelled on from Dhaka to Karachi in 1966. “I left my home and relatives in search of a livelihood. Once I reached Pakistan , I never got the opportunity to go back to Dhaka . Even though my third generation was born here and has grown up in Karachi , I still don’t have a national identity card. I don’t go out of Machar Colony in fear of the police who are always on the lookout for Bengalis,” says the 65-year-old.

It is this predicament of the Bengali community in

Pakistan

that led me to visit Machar Colony. I was looking for a way to enter the place, also known as Muhammadi Colony, one of the most thickly populated slums of Karachi , which hosts a population of over 200,000 Bengali-speaking people and is one of the 116 locations in Karachi that houses the Bengali community. Finding no way in, I rushed to a small paan shop, where an old man stood eyeing the camera and bag slung over my shoulder suspiciously. Everyone around was hesitant to help me get to my destination. It was only after I stated the purpose of my visit that the panic-stricken faces of a group of young Bengalis relaxed and they led me to the colony.

The narrow crowded streets were full of half-naked children eating homemade chutney that was being sold by very young girls in front of single-room houses. It was difficult to walk through the streets filled with sewage water flowing out of the gutters. However, basic amenities such as water, gas and drainage are not what the residents prioritise. “We do not demand development; just give us the right to live here,” say Bengali residents in this katchi abadi.

To deal with immigrants and their citizenship status, the federal government set up the National Alien Registration Authority (NARA), under the Foreigners (Amendment) Ordinance 2000, in January 2001, to record the influx of illegal migrants, register foreigners and issue permits to those who want to work or run businesses in the country. In the last 10 years, only 117, 800 aliens have been registered while NARA statistics reveal that currently 3.5 million illegal immigrants belonging to 78 countries are residing in Pakistan . “We are facing a number of challenges in registering aliens. Voluntary registration is no longer workable, we need the support of the police to force aliens to register themselves,” says Mohammad Ali Lodhi, assistant director NARA .

Out of these 3.5 million, 2.2 million are living in Karachi ; 90% of them belong to the Bengali-speaking community. “Why should I register myself as an alien? I was born in Karachi ,” asks 25-year-old Noor-ul-Hassan. “I was arrested because I speak Bengali,” says Shamsudin, now 40. Displaying an old identity card as proof, he says, “Despite having an identity card, I was picked up by the police and put behind bars for two months under the Foreigners Act.”

The government of Pakistan has declared general amnesty for Bengalis who migrated to

Pakistan

before 1974, and they were granted permission to seek citizenship through proof of residence in the country. Those immigrants who entered the country after 1974 till June 2000 are not entitled to citizenship, but they can seek rough registration and permission to work. According to the rules of NARA, all those illegal immigrants who entered the country after July 10, 2000, have no right to work or do business and are, in fact, supposed to be deported.

Furthermore, post-9/11, the government of

Pakistan

took special measures to control illegal immigration. Under the Foreigners Act, a special branch of the police was set up to arrest illegal immigrants in Pakistan . Keeping in view that the majority are Bengali immigrants, the Bangladesh Cell has been given orders to arrest Bengalis living illegally in Karachi . “We have to ensure national security; consequently, those immigrants who are living in the city without any proper documentation can be a potential threat to the lives and property of our citizens. To ensure security, we are obligated to seek out illegal immigrants for interrogation,” says a police official.

On the other hand, “The Bengali community is living in a state of constant fear and insecurity. The police are roaming the city and picking up Bengalis from each and every corner of the city,” says Dr Aladdin, the former union council nazim of Machar Colony.

And their tactics can be crooked. “I cannot recount how many times the police have arrested me. Once we come out of the colony, policemen dressed in plain clothes pick us up and take us away in their jeeps. They take our money, and in case they don’t find any, they detain us without charges and release us only after getting five to 10 thousand rupees,” says Ajmal Noor, a resident of Machar Colony.

NARA officials have confirmed charges of corruption on the special branch police. “Our institutions have become corrupt; the police often arrest Bengalis for money. Also, the police are supposed to inform us about these arrests but they don’t,” says Mohammad Ali Lodhi from NARA .

Some Bengalis argue that it is simply unfair to try to chase out families who have planted roots here. “Even as third-generation immigrants, we are not recognised as citizens of Pakistan . Bengalis are just as patriotic as people of other nationalities in this country. Why are we being forced to register ourselves as aliens? Why do law-enforcement agencies not accept the evidence of our citizenship? More than 70% of Bengalis have national identity cards, and the remaining 30% retain evidence required for the issuance of identity cards, but every Bengali is considered an illegal immigrant,” says Dr Saleh Zahoor, the chairman of the Pakistan Muslim League (Sher Bangal) faction. “There is apartheid in Pakistan against the Bengalis. We do not trust the political leadership and law-enforcement agencies in Pakistan . Not a single political party or civil society organisation has raised its voice for the political and civil rights of the Bengali community in Pakistan . Even the media is not highlighting the atrocities being committed against us. We are being forced to leave. The government is trying to evacuate millions of Bengalis from the country. Where will we go? Bangladesh will not accept Bengalis of Pakistani origin. We are living without a land, identity and rights,” says Dr Zahoor.

Even the dead have no rights. “Din Mohammad died at the age of 60. He left his family and migrated from Chittagong to Karachi in the late ’80s. After his death, community members wanted to send his dead body to Bangladesh, but Bangladesh’s consulate in Karachi did not grant permission to move the coffin of a person who has no evidence of Bengali citizenship,” recalls an inspector of the special branch who requested anonymity. “He was laid to rest at the Meva Shah Graveyard. Sadly, Din Mohammad had no legal documents of Pakistani citizenship either. He lived and died an alien.”

To unite the Bengali community, Dr Zahoor has started a political movement under the banner of the Pakistan Muslim League (Sher Bangal). He estimates that more than two million Bengalis are living in Karachi – 90% of them are of Pakistani origin and retain identity cards. More than 500 Bengalis are members of the PML (Sher Bengal), claims Dr Zahoor.

During the last local government elections, 38 union councillors and a single union council nazim were elected in the city council of Karachi . “In the political administration, we have no say. Look at all the Bengali areas; you will not find any development work. Despite having a population of more than 200,000, the people of Machar Colony are living without water supply, gas and drainage,” says Dr Aladdin, the former nazim of Machar Colony.

It was discovered by Newsline that the majority of Bengalis involved in the fisheries sector have a low-profile business in the city. The women of the community are often engaged in domestic work in houses or as low-paid factory workers in industrial areas of Korangi and S.I.T.E. It has been noticed that in nearly all Bengali areas, civic amenities are almost non-existent. Having an accelerated birth rate, a lack of resources and inadequate education facilities, the literacy rate is very low among Bengalis. A majority of youngsters are engaged in low-paid employment in the textile and leather industries, or run their own low-profile businesses. Employment in government institutions is negligible.

Bengali workers are deprived of labour rights. In most factories, employers exploit the Bengali workers. “I have been working in a textile factory for the last three years but still haven’t been given a letter of employment and registration in social safety nets. The employer can fire me at will and I can’t challenge the order in court without evidence of employment,” says Waqar, a textile worker, who has been fired many times by respective employers throughout his 10-year career as a stitching master. Similarly, trade unions have turned a blind eye to the plight of Bengali workers. The majority of Bengalis are working in the fisheries sector, but not a single Bengali is a member of the Pakistan Fisher Folk Forum, the single largest trade union of fishermen in

Pakistan

It has been observed that most Bengali-speaking people have retained national identity cards. After the census held in 1998, it has become easy to register as citizens and apply for these identity cards. In this regard, the National Database and Registration Authority was established to issue computerised national identity cards (CNIC). Consequently, most Bengalis are entitled to hold the CNIC. “More than 60% Bengalis living in Karachi have acquired CNICs through fake documents and bribing NADRA,” admits Sayed Nayab Hussain Zaidi, assistant director NARA .

Keeping in view illegal means used for acquiring citizenship, NARA is trying to get all illegal immigrants registered. “We believe that all Bengalis are illegal immigrants until and unless they produce genuine documents of citizenship. Therefore, we have provided them an opportunity to voluntarily register with NARA and seek permission to work. Those who hold NARA cards can live without fear. Otherwise, the police hold the power to arrest all those who are living here illegally,” says Zaidi.

But the plight of the Bengali community continues. “We are sick of police atrocities. For five years, I have been living in a temporary shelter because the police do not allow construction without a bribe. I can’t afford it anymore. I have given up on the idea of a house,” says Tajamul Hassan, a 60-year-old Bengali, who is living with seven family members in Machar Colony.

Talking about the political rights of the Bengali-speaking community, Nisar Khuhro, the speaker of the Sindh Assembly, said he was shocked to learn that millions of illegal immigrants are living in the city. He questioned intelligence agencies in Pakistan since every year more than 20,000 people use Pakistan as a transit route and thousands of illegal immigrants take refuge in Karachi . “Why should Sindh bear the burden of refugees?” He also questioned how national institutions could provide citizenship rights to immigrants. “We do not support any immigrants in this country who don’t have permission.” He encouraged the interior ministry to take concrete actions against illegal immigrants in Karachi .

Clearly, the representatives of the people of Sindh do not want Bengalis living here illegally; however, they are able to do so because of the deeply entrenched corruption in government organisations themselves. The Bengali community has become a victim of this as extortion and persecution continues. At 65, Muzaffar Ali – somebody who arrived pre-1974 and should receive citizenship – is a prisoner in his own ‘home’: one without freedom, rights and most importantly an identity. This cul-de-sac the Bengali community has found themselves in not only looks dispiriting but impassable without some serious political will by the nation’s leaders.

A human rights activist, Salam Dharejo works with SPARC, an organisation that promotes children’s rights in

Pakistan

. He has been a correspondent with Newsline since 2007.