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Creating Synergy in the implementation of Housing Rights Actions by Government and Civil Society
A case study of Karachi Pakistan By Muhammad Younus Urban Resource Centre Karachi
Introduction
This paper is basically a compilation of research conducted at the Urban Resource Centre. This paper is focused on housing situation in Karachi city as conditions here are much similar to other cities of the country.
1.0 Overview/context
Presently total population of Pakistan is 149 million and according to the 1998 census, about 32.5 percent of Pakistan’s population lives in urban areas.
According to 1998 Population and Housing Census of Pakistan, there were over 19.3 million housing units in the country. Of the total (19.3 million) housing units, 67.7 percent were in rural and 32.3 percent in urban areas. Occupancy rates of 6 persons per house, the total number of required housing units in the country would be roughly 24.8 million by the end of June 2003, based on the population of 149 million at present. According to government’s estimate the country needs an addition supply of 570,000 units per annum while the actual supply does not exceed 300,000. Thus there is a net shortfall of 270,000 units per annum and the backlog is increasing every year.
Water supply and sanitation are available to 63 percent and 37 percent of total population in the country.
At present 50 percent of total urban population live in Katchi Abadis (squatter/informal settlements) and informal agriculture subdivision settlements.
The Constitution of Pakistan confers on the government and the state the duty to provide all the basic facilities for a comfortable life for its citizens. This includes provision of food, shelter, clothing, education, and health. This is to be provided to all citizens irrespective of gender, race, caste or language and includes those who are unable to make a living due to illness, disability or due to temporary loss of income. The dignity of the citizens and their right to lead their lives according to the law is to be protected. Further every citizen has the right to acquire land or property in any part of Pakistan and it is his duty to fulfill the covenants of law with respect to its buying and selling. No citizen can be deprived of his land/property which he has legally obtained. No citizen can be deprived of his land or property for public purposes. If it is done then the citizen is to be paid compensation. The relevant departments are to formulate rules and regulations for such compensation.
2.0 Housing policies currently in field
Katchi Abadi Improvement and Regularisation Programme (KAIRP) One of the major programmes of the government in the field of housing is the regularization and improvement of Katchi Abadis (squatter or informal settlements). The programme has been operative, in some form or the other, since 1973. In its present (Sindh Katchi Abadi Act 1987) from it envisages the regularization of, and provision of infrastructure to, all squatter settlements on government land which were established before 23 March 1985 and have more than forty houses in them. The process of transferring this land from the government agencies that own it, to the programme implementation agencies, is in an advanced stage. The mechanics of the programme are:
The government was to provide the seed capital for this programme, which was to operate as a revolving fund as lease and development charges were recovered. Maximum community mobilization and participation in the programme was envisaged as it was foreseen, correctly, that without including these aspects, the programme could not possibly succeed.
The new policy decision The Chief Executive, now President of Pakistan directed on 15 January 2001 that the deserving katchi abadi dwellers who have no alternative shelter should not be summarily evicted. The provincial governments were asked to finalise resettlement plans to provide homes for the shelterless. A committee comprising of representatives from the Board of Revenue, land controlling and owning departments, Local Government Department and Army Monitoring Teams, and the Ministry of Environment, Local Government and Rural Development has been directed to coordinate with the departments concerned to implement the directives.
All the provincial governments and the concerned federal ministries/ divisions/organisations have been asked to initiate necessary action to implement these directives.
The inhabitants of these Katchi Abadis would be provided alternative plots at reduced rates, where it was deemed necessary. The government has already decided to uphold the 1985 policy decision on Katchi Abadis and regularise all Abadis emerging before March 23, 1985.
3.0 Operational policies
3.1 A review of the policies
In 1947, when Karachi became the capital of Pakistan, its population was just above 400,000. Over 600,000 refugees from India moved into the city between 1947 and 1951. The vast majority of them were poor and destitute. They occupied all open spaces in the city centre, including parks, playgrounds, school buildings and cantonment lands. The services of the city were over-stretched and maintaining health and sanitation became a big problem.
In addition to the refuge influx, a number of civil servants also moved to the new capital, along with people, from the northern areas of the newly formed country, who came here in search of jobs. However, the latter migration was no more than 5 per cent of the total influx.
The initial response of the government was to allow squatters to occupy all available land and vacant public buildings in the city. Some buildings were later vacated, and the residents moved into open areas in the cantonment. They were allowed to squat between the army barracks that now accommodated the new administration. The government spent 70 to 80 million rupees (US$388,888)2 during this period on providing water and sanitation infrastructure for the squatters.
In 1950, the Karachi Improvement Trust (KIT) was established to tackle the problems faced by the city. KIT was latter upgraded to become the Karachi Development Authority (KDA) in 1957. In 1952, KIT, with the assistance of a Swedish firm of consultants, MRV, prepared a master plan for Karachi, known as the Greater Karachi Plan, or the MRV plan. The plan envisaged the creation of a new administrative area that would be linked to the old town by fast roads. The resettling of refugees in ten-storied flats on the land that they occupied in the city centre was also proposed so that they would be close to their places of work.
Apart from providing infrastructure to the refugee colonies the government also undertook the construction of housing units for the refugees employed in government jobs. However, this development was on such a small scale that it did not in any way affect the housing situation in Karachi.
The government between 1947 and 1959 failed completely in tackling the housing crisis that the city was faced with. In fact, in these twelve years the supply of houses lagged far behind the demand.
The period between 1951 to 1959 was one of considerable political instability in Pakistan, and a decision on the implementation of the MRV plan could not be taken. Also it was felt in government circles that the high-rise heavy density housing in the city centre, proposed by the plan, should only be permitted if a new administrative centre was developed that would be away from the old town. Alternatively, the poor could be removed to colonies outside the city.
An adequate data base was not established for the preparation of the MRV plan, and the research necessary for development and implementation of the concept was not carried out. Consequently, the MRV plan was designed on the assumption that Karachi’s population in the year 2000 would be three million, a figure which was reached in 1969. Now it is currently stands 12 million.
In 1958, a martial law government was established in Pakistan and since it was not accountable to anyone, it took a number of decisions that were to have a major effect on the demography and housing policies for the poor in Karachi. These decisions were: l A new administrative centre for the city was not to be established. This was followed by the decision to shift the capital from Karachi to Islamabad. 2 The poor should be moved out of the city: The then President was very disturbed at the ugliness of the squatter areas in the city centre, and on more than one occasion said that with such a volatile population in the vicinity of the centre of power, it was not possible to rule effectively. 3 Pakistan should industrialise rapidly: The decision to industrialise was taken along with the decision to promote mechanisation and the use of fertiliser and new varieties of seeds in agriculture. It was agreed that Karachi was the natural place in which to put up the new industries. The decision to industrialise pushed many people from the rural areas into Karachi looking for employment, thereby increasing the city’s growth rate to over seven per cent annually in the 1960s.
Greater Karachi Resettlement Plan In 1958 the Government of Pakistan appointed Doxiades Associates of Athens as consultants for what came to be known as the Greater Karachi Resettlement Plan. The new consultants established a database for Karachi through various surveys and were able to project more accurately, than their predecessors, the growth pattern of the city.
The 1959 survey of Karachi established that there were 119,000 homeless families living in the city centre. Out of these, only 19,000 were locals, the rest being refugees from India. 55 per cent of these lived in shacks, 43 per cent in semi-permanent structures and 2 per cent in proper houses.
The plan estimated that in fifteen to twenty years Karachi would require 500,000 housing units and it undertook to actually build 300,000 of these for the poor. For the remaining 200,000, the government undertook to develop plots with services.
As phase 1 of the plan, new townships fifteen to twenty miles out of Karachi in Korangi and New Karachi were to be created. In the vicinity of these townships, large industrial areas were also planned and incentives provided to the industrialists to develop these areas. Clearance of the inner city slums and the shifting of the residents to the new sites were an integral part of the plan. Initially, 45,000 one-room nuclear houses were planned for these two colonies, complete with all urban services such as house connections for water, electricity and sewerage. However, only 10,000 units were built until 1964, after which the plan was shelved. The plan was shelved because it failed to achieve its objectives
The planning, implementation and failures of the Greater Karachi Resettlement Plan had a major effect on both the policy-makers and the planners of the government, and on the city of Karachi.
The policy-makers and planners learned that the problem of housing the poor was not just a physical one, involving money, technology and logistics, but that the sociological factor was far more important. It was also not possible to guarantee the recovery of development costs from the poor, and therefore it was impossible to provide the necessary number of houses complete with infrastructure.
Large areas of Karachi were cleared of squatters and it became increasingly difficult for the poor to acquire land for building in the city centre. This led to the development of illegal subdivisions on the fringe areas of the city and the consolidation of what came to be known as the ‘informal sector’ in housing. Furthermore, as the new townships were consolidated, squatters moved into the open areas in and around them as they could use the water and transport facilities available to these townships.
After shelving the Greater Karachi Resettlement Plan, the government decided not to construct houses for the poor in the future.. However, the government remained committed to its policy of demolishing inner city slums and shifting the residents therein to plot townships on the fringe areas
In the period between 1964-1974, the government developed three plot townships in west Karachi: Baldia, Orangi and Qasba. . Inner city squatters were moved to these townships long before any facilities arrived, and given ownership rights in the form of a ninety-nine year lease. In most of these areas, sufficient piped water was available only in 1982, and sewerage lines have not yet been laid. Although plots for schools, parks, dispensaries, markets, etc. were planned for these townships, the government did not undertake to construct them. In addition, for the development of these townships, the government occupied land claimed by agriculturists as theirs. These agriculturists filed cases against the government occupation of their land. These are still pending in the courts of law.
These plot townships were far from sufficient to meet the growing needs of the poor, nevertheless, they opened up the area around them for illegal subdivisions. For example, the plot township of Orangi consisted of 1300 acres divided into plots. However, to the north-west of this area, illegal subdividers have developed an additional 6000 acres consisting of over 60,000 plots. Indeed, the squatter colonies of west Karachi, with a population of over 1.2 million, were developed because of these three townships.
The concept of rehabilitating squatters in medium rise flats on the land they occupied in the city centre was floated in the late 1960s. However, it was only in the 1970s that an attempt was made to plan and implement it in the squatter colonies of Lyari and the Lines Area. In both cases only a small part of the settlements were demolished and a small percentage of the proposed flats constructed. The schemes were stopped because the cost of the flats was too high for the colony residents and a new income group moved into the apartments. Meanwhile, the squatters whose homes were demolished moved into plots in the illegal subdivisions on the fringes of the city.
In spite of having given up the idea of building houses for the poor, the KDA could not supply more than 5,000 plots per year during this period (and these, too, were occupied by middle income groups), against a demand of 20,000 per year.
In 1972, there were 1.5 million low-income people in Karachi including 800,000 who lived in squatter colonies. A master plan projection for Karachi showed that by 1985 the government would add 590,000 new households out of which 250,000 would be from the low-income group. This meant that from 1972 to 1985 the KDA would have to provide 40,000 plots a year for the later group.
Karachi Master Plan (KMP) 1975 - 85 The KMP recommended three basic housing development programmes for low-income groups in Karachi. 1. Utility Wall Development (UWD), and 2.Open plot development (OPD) both with secure tenure, all urban facilities. These were meant to cater to the very poor among low-income groups. Also 3. The Improvement and Regularisation Programme (IRP) was aimed at upgrading squatter colonies and, wherever feasible, to give the residents security of tenure. It also involved the shifting of people to regularised plots where upgrading or provision of ownership rights was not possible.
A major part of the UWD and OPD schemes were to be implemented through the Metroville Programme. But the targets achieved were far below the annual requirement of 40,000 dwelling units for housing the 200,000 people who migrated to Karachi every year, in addition to the requirements of the local population. In fact even the target set out by the program were not met.
A survey conducted in 1982 reveals that 37 per cent of Karachi’s population or over 223,000 households live in squatter colonies, or ‘katchi abadis’. These katchi abadis grow at the rate of 10 per cent per annum. Since 1972, lease rights have been offered to the residents of Lyari, an inner city settlement. Between 1972 and 1978 only 11,450 houses out of a total of over 81,000 applied for a lease 19 percent in the settlement and over 80 per cent of these were for plots that were of interest to developers for high-rise construction. It was noticed that the vast majority of the leaseholders sold their property and moved out to the fringe area squatter colonies. Due to this the government, in 1978, made the transfer of lease possible only as inheritance. As a result, only 500 to 600 leases were acquired between 1978 and 1980. Houses did not improve as a result of regularisation and that people were not willing to pay development charges. It was hoped that these problems would be overcome by community participation and by involving local councillors, leaders and various neighbourhood organisations.
In January 1978, the President of Pakistan announced that all abadis existing on or before January 1978 would be regularised. The then martial law government promulgated Martial Law Order (MLO) 183 to give legal cover to the President’s announcement. The Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC) set up a Directorate of Katchi Abadis and the task of surveying, planning and regularisation of the abadis was assigned to it.
In addition, the regularisation programme was made part of the Sixth Five Year Plan, 1983-1988, and an estimated 2,103.58 million rupees was to be spent on it during the plan period. Of this sum, over 50 per cent, or 1,184.85 million rupees, was to be spent on providing land and accommodation to families who would be dislocated due to the programme. The rest would be spent on the upgrading process.
The first katchi abadi chosen by the KMC for upgrading was Baldia. It consisted of 24,500 plots and a population of over 220,000. Regularisation was announced in 1977, but the actual implementation of lease operations did not begin until 1980. By 1983, some 4000 leases had been executed. This figure is well below what was expected and has adversely affected the programme, which depends on the recovery of lease charges. According to the project proposal, a default rate of more than 20 per cent would upset cost recovery and make the plan unworkable.
Community participation, which was supposed to surmount the difficulties experienced in the earlier regularisation process, was also nominal. The plans were prepared by the KMC and the objections of the residents to them dismissed and they were told that the authorities had already approved the plans. Also the information that the residents received was incomplete and inaccurate. They were told that schools and health centres would be built and that wastewater and water supply further improved. But the fact is that the limited amount of lease money available could not finance these improvements. It seemed as though the KMC was only interested in extracting the lease money from the people so that the programme could continue.
In no other major squatter settlement has regularisation plan been launched. The work of the KMC has so far been limited to improving water supply and providing the major roads. The Katchi Abadis Regularisation and Improvement Programme for the 6th Five Year Plan period of 1983-1988, and for KMP period 1974-1985, failed completely. It managed to regularise about 18,000 out of approximate 223,000 houses after having spent many hundred million rupees. Also in KAIRP land is misappropriated. Government surveyors make incorrect plans showing open areas as housing so that people can be settled there and money can be recovered from them. Alternatively, houses are shown as open areas and are subsequently bulldozed because they do not exist on the plan. The bulldozed area is then taken over by developers.
MLO 183 decreed that only the abadis existing on or before 1 sJanuary 1978 would be regularised. The rest were to be demolished. However, on 7 April 1986, the Prime Minister of Pakistan announced that all abadis settled before 23 March 1983 could be regularised.
The Katchi Abadi Act 1987 In 1987 the Katchi Abadi Act 1987, a land regularization policy and upgrading came into effect. It said that the regularization and development of katchi abadis has been given high priority. Under the policy katchi abadis existing upto 23 March 1985 and comprising at least 40 houses were to be identified for regularization. The settlement is to fulfill the following criteria.
Under this act the Sindh Katch Abadi Authority (SKAA) was established. Besides regularization and development of informal settlements the functions of the SKAA (authority work under provincial government) also include, under article 5(x): where necessary, low cost housing and redevelopment schemes of shiftees from katchi abadi and areas which are not regularizable as kathi abadi will be undertaken.
In Karachi 539 katchi abadis were identified for regularization and development having a population of 2.67 million and 0.42 million housing units. These katchi abadis cover an area of 15,572 acres in various parts of the city. Out 539 katchi abadis 191 were notified by Sindh Katchi Abadi Authority (SKAA) and other remained under the jurisdiction of Karachi Metropolotian Corporation (which is now called City District Government Karachi). Up to March 2004 a total of 0.12 million leases (land titles for housing units) were granted, which is 20.5 percent of the total housing units. Meanwhile the population of Katchi abadis in the city has raised from 2.67 million to 4.5 million an so as the number of houses.
3.2 Housing Rights violations and forced Evictions
Forced evictions have been an increasing threat to the urban poor. The reported figures show that more than 18,631 houses have been bulldozed by various government agencies in the different settlements of Karachi since 1992. As a result of these evictions 152,161 people (including 72,971 women and children) became homeless.
Apart from above mentioned evictions another 6,064 units (including 2,384 commercial and 3,680 residential) have been bulldozed in Karachi to make way for the controversial project ‘Lyari Expressway’ since January 2002. These evictions took place despite a strong resistance from effected communities, political parties, civil society organizations and concerned citizens. According to government over 16,000 housing units and 3600 commercial units would be displaced due to Lyari Expressway project. Currently around 179,500 households in the different parts of the country are facing immediate threat of evictions due to various projects of the government. Reasons for Evictions Eviction instigated by Builders: Evictions become possible because developers and land gabbers are supported by politicians and bureaucrats. Because of this support land record tampering, denial of new entries in the land records and theft of files creates land tenure disputes making police pressure on low-income settlements possible. This happens most often in locations where commercial development is lucrative. Bad planning (often on purpose to promote corruption): Planning is done so as to evict more households than is required for the plan objectives so as to acquire land for sale and development. In some cases where NGOs and professionals have managed to alter plans and thus completely prevent evictions where thousands were to take place. Ignorance of residents: Evictions also take place because of the selective application of incomplete legal decrees. Often residents are not able to furnish legal proof of ownership due to ignorance and absence of legal support and therefore cases are decided against them. After such a decision, the government agencies simply attack the settlement without following the required legal procedures. Development projects: Pakistan cities are now developing mega projects related to roads and transport. In the next decades these will displace the largest numbers. Professionals feel that many of these projects are unnecessary and some can be redesigned to prevent evictions. Alternatives have been proposed. (Lyari Expressway)
Redevelopment projects: In redevelopment projects settlements are demolished and residents are allotted land onto which they can move only after redevelopment has taken place which may take more than a year. They have no objection but to sell their ownership papers to middlemen. (Lines Area Redevelopment Project)
Demolition in katchi abadis: The upgrading plan demolishes homes and businesses due to irrational bye-laws and pushes the affectees to the fringes of the city. (The Katchi Abadi Improvement and Regulatisation Programme)
Railway settlements: Large scale evictions are taking place on railway land since the railway is broke and needs to sell this land for survival. (The Railway is broke and so it requires funds)
Evictions on agricultural lands: Share croppers are being forced to become lease holders so that they can be evicted legally and their land can be developed for corporate farming. (Okara Farms)
Community actions against evictions
· People do not believe that eviction will take place until it begins. · They go and petition their members of national and provincial assemblies and elected local government representatives. · They collect money and go to court, often with insufficient documentation. · They hold demonstrations at the press club. The press inevitably reports their point of view and so does the electronic media. · Contact NGOs and get them to take up the issue at various NGO (national and international) and government forums. · Hold all party conferences. Here representatives of political parties are invited together to listen to the concerns of the effected community and to state their party point of view on the subject and to determine a future course of action. · Hold a “people’s assembly”. Here a large gathering is collected consisting of the affectees and their sympathisers from other informal settlements. If the assembly is large enough, it is reported in the press. · Resort to violence so as to prevent demolitions.
Civil Society’s support for communities
The Urban Resource Centre (URC), a non-governmental organization, was set up in 1989. Its founders were urban planning related professionals, representatives of NGOs and grass-root community organizations and teachers at professional colleges. They felt that Karachi's official development plans ignored the larger socio-economic reality of the city and as such were unworkable, unaffordable, and environmentally disastrous. They further felt that workable alternatives were required and these were possible only with the involvement of informed communities and interest groups.
Through a process URC has been able to create an anti evictions network in Karachi. The network mainly supports community actions through following:
This network has been able to prevent some major evictions in the city.
4.0 Impact of the policies
Presently the housing demands of poor are being met through informal sector. This is now reality that;
The Katchi Abadia Improvement and Regularization Proramme largely accepts this reality. The Sindh Katchi Abadi Authority (SKAA-implementing agency of the government) has modified and simplified the producers, rules and regulations of the programme as per needs of the each settlement.
One major significant is SKAA has adopted Orangi Pilot Project – Research and Training Institute’s (OPP-RTI) model of ‘component sharing’ in 1994 and agreed as its policy to finance external sanitation and water mains through amount generated from lease recovery from the respective settlements.
The Component Sharing Model
The model that has evolved from Orangi is the component sharing concept of development with people and government as partners. The concept was developed and successfully implemented by OPP-RTI (NGO). The illustration is, there are two levels of a modern sanitation system:
a) Internal development comprising of:
b) External development which constitutes:
Under this component sharing concept the communities are responsible for ‘Internal Development and the government takes care of external development of the respective settlements. The concept is now being replicated in many cities in Pakistan.
Beginning with low cost sanitation the component sharing has been successfully applied by the communities, government agencies and many Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to water supply, solid waste management, tree plantation, electricity supply, management of security, and can be applied to the field of education, health, housing and micro credit enterprises.
Such partnership between community and government makes development sustainable and with local resources. This ultimately improves over all living condition of the poor settlements.
5.0 Replication
5.1 Improvement and development of the settlements The OPP-RTI and SKAA model of component sharing has great potential to be replicated else where.
Problems/issues The major issue is that in Katchi Abadi Act 1987 more emphasis is given on the issue of the land title/ownership. All individual house owners must acquire land title/ownership. Presently this is a pre-condition for starting any kind developmental work in the settlements.
Katchi Abadi Act 1987 needs to be updated in the following directions:
Thus a modified form of the component sharing model can be replicated in the region for the improvement and development of the existing settlements.
It is important to have a uniform policy approach for the development. At a time the model can not successfully applied on some settlements, whereas other settlements enjoy 100 percent grant from government.
The governments and professionals must understand the dynamics of the community participation. The community participation is not problem, government’s participation in the peoples work is needed. Community initiatives and investment on their settlements must be respected, accepted, protected and supported by the government.
5.2 Preventing evictions:
On the basis of Karachi’s experiences an organisation can be established which specifically deals with eviction issues at the national level. Such an organisation should
Problems/issues
Creating a space for interaction and dialogue: A process must be initiated to create a space for interaction between poor communities, NGOs, private (formal and informal) sector interest groups, academic institutions, and government agencies. This space needs nurturing and institutionalizing.
Empowering the poor In an unequal relationship the stronger and more powerful lobby always wins and has its way. The weaker section is marginalised and evicted. To stem the violation of human rights, especially housing rights, it is important to balance the relationship in society. The weaker section of society can be included in the decision making process detail information on development plans are shared with them. If this happens and they are sufficiently prepared then they will be able to articulate their concerns and develop plans that suit their situation and capacity.
Developing Alternatives; It is not enough to oppose the plan, just because people are being evicted, it is important to understand what issues the plan aims to address and whether the proposed solution will cause more problems than it aims to address. Developing alternatives are essential. The process of developing alternatives should be a participatory and empowering process involving the people effected by the government plan. The people own the plan and they can lobby for its implementation.
Abbreviations CBO Community Based Organisation GKRP Greater Karachi Resettlement Plan KAIRP Katchi Abadi Improvement and Regularisation Programme KIT Karachi Improvement Trust KDA Karachi Development Authority KMP Karachi Master Plan KMC Karachi Municipal Corporation MLO Martial Law Order OPD Open plot development NOC No-objection certificate OPP-RTI Orangi Pilot Project – Research and Training Institute NGO Non Governmental Organisation SKAA Sindh Katch Abadi Authority URC Urban Resource Centre UWD Utility Wall Development
Local terms used Katchi Abadis Squatter settlement Regularisation Provision of ownership or land title Lease Land tile
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