Jauhar landslide causes havoc

Karachi
At least 13 people were killed and four others injured when a portion of a hill collapsed near Continental Bakery in Block-1 of Gulistan-e-Jauhar in the wee hours of Tuesday, burying the makeshift houses built below under tons of mud and rocks.
Rescue workers took four or five hours to dig out the bodies of 13 victims, seven of them children, three women and three men. The search for more bodies ended at 8am.
The victims were members of three families. Five of victims had arrived in Karachi from Khanpur, Rahim Yar Khan and eight had come from Yazmàn, Bahawalpur.
The landslide occurred between 1:30am and 1:40am and most of the victims were buried alive in their sleep.
Amid reports that the makeshift houses were built on a plot carved out through the illegal process called China-cutting, the provincial government has formed a team including SSP East Jawed Jiskani and the East deputy commissioner to probe the case.
The SSP East told The News that the survivors of the landslide and the residents of nearby houses had given different statements about the status of the land. Some believed that the plots were illegal and created through China-cutting. Others said they were legal. Some also claimed that the poor settlers at the land were being threatened to vacate it.
The SSP said the land belonged to a police official. Plots of other police officials and politicians are also located on the same street.
“So far, there appears to be no sign of any criminal activity that caused this incident,” he added.
“But we will investigate the possibility of the involvement of the land mafia in it and also ascertain the status of the land.”
The rescue operation was conducted jointly by police, Rangers and the district administration.
The members of one family killed in the landslide were identified as Ghulam Fareed, 25, his wife Rehana, 22, his sons, Muqadas, 5, and Mohammad Ahmed, 2, and his daughter Sadaf, 3.
The second family included Mohammad Ayub, 50, his wife Nasreen, 45, their daughters, Maira, 12 and Zahira, four months.
The third family included Khursheed, 26, his wife Fatima, 20, their sons Azan Abbas, 3, and Ayan Abbas, 1. The bodies were shifted to the Edhi morgue and later handed over to the victims’ legal heirs.
Living there for a decade
Abdur Razzaq, the father of victim Rehana , told The News that the family had been living at the land for a decade and nothing like this had happened before, Saba Sabir adds.
“We can’t blame anyone for the incident. It’s God’s will and no one is responsible for it,” he said. “But our losses are very high and irreversible. My daughter, son-in-law and three grandchildren died in the landslide.”
Razzaq said the hill collapse had occurred at around 1:30am and his family was asleep at the time. “Suddenly a mass of mud and rocks fell on us from a nearby hill .I quickly woke up the children and told them to run outside. My son was struck by a stone while he was sleeping.”
He said his daughter’s family was sleeping in a house next to the portion of the hill that collapsed and could not survive the landslide. “My son-in-law drove a rickshaw and also earned through a part-time job.
Rizwana, Rehana’s sister, said it was hard to believe that her sibling would never wake up again after the last time she had met with her.
Razzaq’s family had arrived in the city from Khanpur and would bury their loved ones in their hometown.
Ban imposed
The Karachi commissioner has imposed a ban on construction of buildings in the hilly areas of the city following the deadly landslide.
Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqi said he had issued this order for the safety of citizens.
He added that the plan for constructing a building in such areas would need to be approved first.
The commissioner also formed an inquiry committee headed Deputy Commissioner East Asif Jaan Siddiqui, the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation director land and the municipal services senior director.