Tens of thousands of people in Karachi have been living amidst the rubble of their homes after an ill-thought-out ‘anti-encroachment’ drive to clear the city’s three main water drains. Was this massive displacement even worth it?
The writer is an architect.
WHENEVER Karachi floods, the government announces the widening of its nullahs that carry the floodwater to the sea. The decision of the extent of widening is taken in an ad hoc manner. As a result of recent decisions, 5,916 houses along Gujjar nullah, 1,049 along Mehmoodabad nullah, and 992 along Manzoor Colony nullah are to be demolished apart from commercial units. The affectees are not being allocated land or funds for rehabilitating themselves and are becoming homeless, having been declared encroachers by the judiciary in Pakistan.
Affected communities argue that their encroachments are just one of the reasons why Karachi floods. Other reasons are that the nullahs are choked and as such cannot function to capacity, inevitably flooding the areas through which they pass. Communities also claim they have paid corrupt government officials for the land they sit on and in addition paid billions of rupees for legal electricity, gas and municipal connection
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Two naughty little boys are having a conversation sitting on top of an empty king-sized sewerage pipeline behind a swarm of city officials surveying Manzoor Colony nullah.
âTera ghar to gira rahey hain,â one of them says. Theyâre demolishing your house.
âAbey, tujhe kaise pata?!â How the hell do you know?
âKyunke wo nishaan laga ke gae na!â he repliesâand then, as if to assuage his buddyâs feelings, hastily and a tad mournfully, adds: âMeri to poori galli ja rahi he.â Because they marked it. My entire alleyway is going…