Jamshed Town: diverse but dissected
April 04, 2008
Karachi
Jamshed Town, one of the largest of the 18 towns in Karachi, is a town of contrasts. On one hand, the town comprises areas such as PECHS, KAECHS and SMCHS – once known as the most prestigious areas in the city – and on the other hand, bordering these localities, are low-income neighbourhoods such as the Central Jacob Lines, Mehmoodabad, Chanesar Goth and Azam Basti. However, despite the disparity in their living conditions, the residents of the town suffer equally as civic issues remain unaddressed in most union councils (UC).
The residents in the commercial area complain of an increasing number of encroachments, massive digging and on-going road construction that leads to traffic jams on a daily basis on some of the major intersections of the town. While most of the low-income neighbourhoods remain the worst affected areas deprived of a running water supply and proper sewerage system.
Since the town is centrally located, with Liaquatabad Town in its north-west (across the Lyari River), Gulshan Town to the east and Korangi Town in the south-east (across the Malir River), the town’s problems, say officials, are peculiar. This is further compounded by a large percentage of increase in the town’s population. The population of the 13 UCs of the town has risen from 731,508 (in 1998) to approximately 1,231,508 (in 2008), but there are no additional resources to meet the growing population’s needs.
When the local government reforms was introduced in 2001, the town officials, say residents, promised a better system of drainage and waste disposal but today the ground realities are different. “We can witness the on-going construction and widening of roads on Khalid bin Walid Road, but at this point, when residents of Chanesar Goth are suffering from water problems, the authorities should pay attention to our problems too. These areas are completely neglected,” laments a resident of the neighbourhood, Mohammad Raheel. According to official statistics, 84 per cent of the town’s population is dependent on the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) for their source of drinking water, 6.46 per cent on hand pumps and 3.97 per cent on wells.
However, irate residents can also be seen in one of the most prestigious areas such as the KAECHS where there are no town sweepers to dispose the garbage, hence forcing the residents to hire private sweepers charging Rs120 per day. “We have only 70 garbage refuse vans that are not sufficient,” the District Town Officer (DTO) Information, Farhan Khan, informs The News since the Town Nazim, Jawed Ahmed, was unavailable for comment. He says that the dumping site of the town’s waste is in Jam Chakro – a landfill site in Surjani Town. However, a visit to Tariq Road, Jut Line, KAECHS and Mehmoodabad presents an opposite picture where empty plots have turned into dumping sites. In other cases, residents are found disposing garbage in open drains (nullahs) such as the Azam Basti nullah that falls under the jurisdiction of the KWSB.
Despite the generation of taxes worth millions from the area, the authorities concerned have not considered covering the drain that has claimed the lives of two children in the past five years and continues to endanger children to date. “We have been contacting the town officials but they pay no heed. They began constructing a boundary wall, which was left incomplete because the contractors did not receive their payment. As a result, residents use the drain as a waste disposal site that increases the level of sewage water level, which then overflows into houses,” Abdul Khaliq, Nazim of UC 3, Azam Basti, says. A similar situation was observed near the Chanesar Goth nullah that also claimed the life of a young boy a year ago.
On the other hand, a visit to various neighbourhoods of UC 6 and UC 7 (PECHS I and II) revealed that massive commercialisation in the area and the use of sub-standard material for construction resulted in broken roads years ago. To date, they remain unattended, leading to traffic gridlocks in small lanes as well. “The road outside my house has not been carpeted for the past 12 years,” a resident of SMCHS Block A, claims.
Moreover, town authorities continue to ignore the illegal encroachment of public space in the area as well. The encroached pavements outside car showrooms located on Khalid bin Walid Road is one such area where shop owners have been consistently violating the rules laid down by the Town Nazim. “The City Nazim personally ordered the removal of encroachments from Khalid bin Walid Road and we bulldozed all pavements as well, but the cars have returned as the shop owners refuse to comply,” the Town Municipal Officer (TMO), Masroor Memon says, while talking to The News. On being questioned about the imposition of heavy fine, he says that the owners are willing to pay the fine but refuse to abide by the instructions of the Town Nazim. “There is so much we can do but cannot do without the cooperation of the citizens,” he adds. According to official records, there are 330 showrooms operating in the town.
Memon added that lack of coordination between town authorities and other district officials also leads to the residents’ frustration when one road has dug up multiple times for different purposes. Defence View, a constituency of UC 5, is one such area where residents have been complaining of dug up roads for several months. “It is not our fault,” clarifies Memon. “As soon as the construction of a road is completed, we receive orders from the KWSB to insert water pipelines and when they finish their work, the Pakistan Telecommunication Limited (PTCL) or the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) wants to dig. If we refuse to comply, the residents blame the town authorities. What we need is coordination between all the departments before initiating a project instead of digging the same road multiple times.”
Furthermore, Memon also says that measures like the 24-hour complaint centre of the town has helped resolve problems, but admitted that a lot more needs to be done. Some development projects such as the construction of a maternity health centre in Mehmoodabad and a Women’s Vocational Centre in Chanesar Goth also remain pending to date as the development budget of UCs is not being used for the purpose.
According to official documents, part of the development budget has been allocated for different projects under the Town Municipal Administration (TMA). Some of the schemes introduced by the TMA include widening of Khalid bin Walid Road (Rs65,000,000), Improvement of Kashmir Road and Jheel Park(Rs60,000,000), improvement of Sultan Mohammad Shah Road (Rs10,000,000), road construction from Ziauddin Health Centre to Parsi Colony in UC 5 (Rs45,000,000), improvement of the sewerage system in Jut Lines (Rs30,000,000), improvement in lighting system in all the 13 UCs (Rs40,000,000) among other projects. The completion of these on-going development projects, explains Memon, will take a few months.
Fact file
By our correspondent
Karachi
Date of establishment
August 15, 2001
Town Area
32 square kilometres
Distribution of population by religion:
Muslim - 97%
Christian - 2.35%
Hindu - 0.45%
Others - 0.20%
Worship places:
Mosque – 386
Church – 19
Temple – 3
Imambargah – 17
Madrassa – 35 (Binoria Town Madrassa, one of the biggest madrassa in Karachi, is located in Jamshed Town)
Literacy rate
Male – 78.5%
Female – 73.11%
Main markets
Nursery market, Tariq Road, Manzoor Colony market, Soldier Bazar market, Pindi Chowk, Patel Para Market, Clifton Market, Khursheed Market, E-Market Block 6
Police Stations
Ferozabad Police Station, Brigade Police Station, Soldier Bazar police Station, Baloch Colony Police Station and Jamshed Town Police Station
Famous places/landmarks Mazar-e-Quaid, Nishter Park, Tariq Road, Hill Park, PIA Sports Complex, Squash Complex, Fatimid Blood Bank, Binoria Town Mosque, Shah Khurasan Imambargah, Aga Khan Gymkhana and Society Building
Sensitive Areas
Binoria Town Mosque (UC 10)
Imambargah Khurasan (UC 12)
Imambargah Shah Najaf (UC 10)
Imambargah Abu Talib (UC 12)
Imambargah Bilti Para (UC 8)
Makki Mohajir Masjid (UC 9)
Masjid-e-Noman Lasbella Chowk (UC 11)
Ehteshamul Haq Thanvi Masjid (UC 9)
Jamshed Town, one of the largest of the 18 towns in Karachi, is a town of contrasts. On one hand, the town comprises areas such as PECHS, KAECHS and SMCHS – once known as the most prestigious areas in the city – and on the other hand, bordering these localities, are low-income neighbourhoods such as the Central Jacob Lines, Mehmoodabad, Chanesar Goth and Azam Basti. However, despite the disparity in their living conditions, the residents of the town suffer equally as civic issues remain unaddressed in most union councils (UC).
The residents in the commercial area complain of an increasing number of encroachments, massive digging and on-going road construction that leads to traffic jams on a daily basis on some of the major intersections of the town. While most of the low-income neighbourhoods remain the worst affected areas deprived of a running water supply and proper sewerage system.
Since the town is centrally located, with Liaquatabad Town in its north-west (across the Lyari River), Gulshan Town to the east and Korangi Town in the south-east (across the Malir River), the town’s problems, say officials, are peculiar. This is further compounded by a large percentage of increase in the town’s population. The population of the 13 UCs of the town has risen from 731,508 (in 1998) to approximately 1,231,508 (in 2008), but there are no additional resources to meet the growing population’s needs.
When the local government reforms was introduced in 2001, the town officials, say residents, promised a better system of drainage and waste disposal but today the ground realities are different. “We can witness the on-going construction and widening of roads on Khalid bin Walid Road, but at this point, when residents of Chanesar Goth are suffering from water problems, the authorities should pay attention to our problems too. These areas are completely neglected,” laments a resident of the neighbourhood, Mohammad Raheel. According to official statistics, 84 per cent of the town’s population is dependent on the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) for their source of drinking water, 6.46 per cent on hand pumps and 3.97 per cent on wells.
However, irate residents can also be seen in one of the most prestigious areas such as the KAECHS where there are no town sweepers to dispose the garbage, hence forcing the residents to hire private sweepers charging Rs120 per day. “We have only 70 garbage refuse vans that are not sufficient,” the District Town Officer (DTO) Information, Farhan Khan, informs The News since the Town Nazim, Jawed Ahmed, was unavailable for comment. He says that the dumping site of the town’s waste is in Jam Chakro – a landfill site in Surjani Town. However, a visit to Tariq Road, Jut Line, KAECHS and Mehmoodabad presents an opposite picture where empty plots have turned into dumping sites. In other cases, residents are found disposing garbage in open drains (nullahs) such as the Azam Basti nullah that falls under the jurisdiction of the KWSB.
Despite the generation of taxes worth millions from the area, the authorities concerned have not considered covering the drain that has claimed the lives of two children in the past five years and continues to endanger children to date. “We have been contacting the town officials but they pay no heed. They began constructing a boundary wall, which was left incomplete because the contractors did not receive their payment. As a result, residents use the drain as a waste disposal site that increases the level of sewage water level, which then overflows into houses,” Abdul Khaliq, Nazim of UC 3, Azam Basti, says. A similar situation was observed near the Chanesar Goth nullah that also claimed the life of a young boy a year ago.
On the other hand, a visit to various neighbourhoods of UC 6 and UC 7 (PECHS I and II) revealed that massive commercialisation in the area and the use of sub-standard material for construction resulted in broken roads years ago. To date, they remain unattended, leading to traffic gridlocks in small lanes as well. “The road outside my house has not been carpeted for the past 12 years,” a resident of SMCHS Block A, claims.
Moreover, town authorities continue to ignore the illegal encroachment of public space in the area as well. The encroached pavements outside car showrooms located on Khalid bin Walid Road is one such area where shop owners have been consistently violating the rules laid down by the Town Nazim. “The City Nazim personally ordered the removal of encroachments from Khalid bin Walid Road and we bulldozed all pavements as well, but the cars have returned as the shop owners refuse to comply,” the Town Municipal Officer (TMO), Masroor Memon says, while talking to The News. On being questioned about the imposition of heavy fine, he says that the owners are willing to pay the fine but refuse to abide by the instructions of the Town Nazim. “There is so much we can do but cannot do without the cooperation of the citizens,” he adds. According to official records, there are 330 showrooms operating in the town.
Memon added that lack of coordination between town authorities and other district officials also leads to the residents’ frustration when one road has dug up multiple times for different purposes. Defence View, a constituency of UC 5, is one such area where residents have been complaining of dug up roads for several months. “It is not our fault,” clarifies Memon. “As soon as the construction of a road is completed, we receive orders from the KWSB to insert water pipelines and when they finish their work, the Pakistan Telecommunication Limited (PTCL) or the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) wants to dig. If we refuse to comply, the residents blame the town authorities. What we need is coordination between all the departments before initiating a project instead of digging the same road multiple times.”
Furthermore, Memon also says that measures like the 24-hour complaint centre of the town has helped resolve problems, but admitted that a lot more needs to be done. Some development projects such as the construction of a maternity health centre in Mehmoodabad and a Women’s Vocational Centre in Chanesar Goth also remain pending to date as the development budget of UCs is not being used for the purpose.
According to official documents, part of the development budget has been allocated for different projects under the Town Municipal Administration (TMA). Some of the schemes introduced by the TMA include widening of Khalid bin Walid Road (Rs65,000,000), Improvement of Kashmir Road and Jheel Park(Rs60,000,000), improvement of Sultan Mohammad Shah Road (Rs10,000,000), road construction from Ziauddin Health Centre to Parsi Colony in UC 5 (Rs45,000,000), improvement of the sewerage system in Jut Lines (Rs30,000,000), improvement in lighting system in all the 13 UCs (Rs40,000,000) among other projects. The completion of these on-going development projects, explains Memon, will take a few months.
Fact file
By our correspondent
Karachi
Date of establishment
August 15, 2001
Town Area
32 square kilometres
Distribution of population by religion:
Muslim - 97%
Christian - 2.35%
Hindu - 0.45%
Others - 0.20%
Worship places:
Mosque – 386
Church – 19
Temple – 3
Imambargah – 17
Madrassa – 35 (Binoria Town Madrassa, one of the biggest madrassa in Karachi, is located in Jamshed Town)
Literacy rate
Male – 78.5%
Female – 73.11%
Main markets
Nursery market, Tariq Road, Manzoor Colony market, Soldier Bazar market, Pindi Chowk, Patel Para Market, Clifton Market, Khursheed Market, E-Market Block 6
Police Stations
Ferozabad Police Station, Brigade Police Station, Soldier Bazar police Station, Baloch Colony Police Station and Jamshed Town Police Station
Famous places/landmarks Mazar-e-Quaid, Nishter Park, Tariq Road, Hill Park, PIA Sports Complex, Squash Complex, Fatimid Blood Bank, Binoria Town Mosque, Shah Khurasan Imambargah, Aga Khan Gymkhana and Society Building
Sensitive Areas
Binoria Town Mosque (UC 10)
Imambargah Khurasan (UC 12)
Imambargah Shah Najaf (UC 10)
Imambargah Abu Talib (UC 12)
Imambargah Bilti Para (UC 8)
Makki Mohajir Masjid (UC 9)
Masjid-e-Noman Lasbella Chowk (UC 11)
Ehteshamul Haq Thanvi Masjid (UC 9)
