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Friday March 29, 2024

100 slums to be upgraded in Sindh

By our correspondents
October 14, 2016

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has decided to provide basic facilities, including road infrastructure, for 100 katchi abadis across the province to upgrade the shanty settlements to the level of urban townships.

He took the decision while presiding over a meeting at the CM House on Thursday. 

Giving a presentation to the chief minister, Sindh Katchi Abadis Authority (SKAA) Secretary Dr Nawaz Shaikh said there were 1,409 katchi abadis spread over 25,944 acres in the province. He said 948 of them were notified, 344 were yet to be notified, and 117 had been established on federal government land which had notified only 30.

Talking about 129 slums established on federal government land, he said 80 settlements were on railways land, 10 on defence land, 10 on Pakistan Public Works Department, eight on KLTP, 29 ETPB, one T&T and another on Wapda land. He added that 82 slums were located on lands of different provincial departments -- 29 on KMC, eight on SITE, one on jail, 18 on irrigation, four on Auqaf, two on food, 18 on local councils and one on works & services department land.

Replying to a question of the chief minister, Shaikh said Karachi had 564 katchi abadis, and 56 of them were located in hazardous areas like storm water drains.  

Giving a breakdown of 417 katchi abadis in Hyderabad Division, he said that Hyderabad had 203, Dadu 28, Badin 45, Thatt 46, Tando Allahyar 15, Tando Mohammad Khan nine, Mattiari 20, Jamshoro 21 and Sujawal 30. Of them, he said, only 200 slums had been notified and the cases of 117 abadis had been taken up for regularisation.

The chief minister was informed that Mirpurkhas Division had 81 katchi abadis, including 17 in Tharparkar and 23 in Umerkot. Of them, 47 are regularised, 30 are in the regularisation process and 34 are not notified. In Sukkur Division, there are 91 katchi abadis, including 22 in Ghotki and 18 Khairpur. Of them, 60 are notified, 43 are in the regularisation process and 31 are not regularised.

Larkana Division has 112 slums -- 18 in Qambar Shahdadkot, 14 Shikarpur, 29 in Jaccobabd and 17 in Kashmore. Of them, 69 are notified, 38 are in the process of regularisation and 43 are not notified.

Similarly, in Shaheed Benazirabad Division there are 144 katchi abadis --60 in Sanghar, 31 in Naushahro Feroze and 53 in Benazirabad/Nawabshah. Only 90 slums are notified and 60 are in the process of getting notified.

Shaikh said the criterion for the regularisation of a katchi abadi was that the settlement should have been in existence on or before March 23, 1985, and must have at least 40 dwelling units.

Replying to a question, he told the chief minister that the societies that had not applied for the regularisation of shanty settlements had the unresolved issues of their settlements being on federal or on KMC land while most of such settlements located on Sindh government land had not been demarcated.

The chief minister directed the chief secretary to constitute a committee under BoR Senior Member Rizwan Memon, SKAA Secretary Dr Nawaz Shaikh and Local Government Secretary Baqaullah Unar as its members. The committee would examine the demarcation cases and finalise the matters in this regard within 30 days.

Chief Minister Shah, taking another policy decision, directed the SKAA to prepare a plan to upgrade 100 katchi abadis located in all the divisions by providing them basic facilities and road infrastructure. 

Explaining the criteria for the slums to be upgraded, he said that they should be notified with a clear definition of boundaries and they should also be cleared of all kinds of litigation. He said he was keen to provide them good facilities and change the lifestyle of their dwellers.

“I am very clear the new settlements on government lands would be considered as encroachments and the concerned SHO would be held responsible for the purpose,” he said.