Govt to regularise Katchi Abadis existing in Sindh since before 1997

The provincial government has decided to regularise all Katchi Abadis (shanty towns) in Karachi that came into existence till 1997.

Sindh Local Government Minister Saeed Ghani on Friday made this announcement during a meeting on Katchi Abadis in the province. Karachi has been housing the maximum number of Katchi Abadis in Sindh. Of total 1,414 such squatter settlements in the province, at least 575 are situated in the provincial capital.

Sindh Local Government Minister Saeed Ghani informed this on Friday as he chaired a meeting on Katchi Abadis in the province. Sindh Katchi Abadis Authority (SKAA) Director General (DG) Dr Iqbal Saeed Khan informed the meeting that according to a survey conducted in 1997, squatter settlements in the province occupied an area of 26,458 acres.

According to the survey, 575 Katchi Abadis existed in Karachi in 1997 while 408 was the number of such squatter settlements in Hyderabad. The number of Katchi Abadis was 84 in Mirpurkhas, 91 in Sukkur, 112 in Larkana and 144 in Shaheed Benazirabad. Out of such shanty towns, 1,004 Katchi Abadis were properly notified while 410 were un-notified. The SKAA DG informed the provincial minister that the survey had been undertaken to regularise Katchi Abadis in the province that existed in 1997. The Sindh Assembly had also endorsed the provincial government’s decision to regularise squatter areas. Ghani was informed that many such shanty towns had been regularised by the provincial government since then.

The local government minister directed the relevant SKAA officials to compile and computerise data of all the Katchi Abadis in the province at the earliest. Officials concerned should take action on an emergency basis to provide basic facilities to dwellers of such shanty towns in the province, Ghani said, adding that steps should also be taken to ensure that there is no instance of illegal constructions within the jurisdictions of the squatter settlements in Sindh. “It is our duty to provide all basic facilities to residents of all such settlements. The Sindh government will extend its fullest cooperation in this regard,” Ghani said. All the formalities should be completed at the earliest to regularise the squatter settlements in the province that came into existence till 1997, the minister directed.