‘Stringent laws needed to prevent rich-poor gap from widening’

Karachi
Karachi, one of the three mostly rapidly expanding urban centres in the world, needs the most stringent measures to control inequality and class-oriented policies if it is to be a place worth living for the common man.
These views were expressed by noted urban planner and social activist Arif Hassan at the inauguration of the soft launch of the “I Am Karachi” film festival at a hotel on Saturday afternoon.
Hassan said that on account of the increasing densification, the gulf between rich and poor land settlements was accentuating the rich-poor gap, which was socially lethal for the city and could result (and in fact has been resulting) in convulsive social upheavals.
He was also critical of the policy whereby land was dished out to cronies and the rich without let or hindrance, saying that it was virtually impossible for those who did not have the right strings to pull to get land. This state of affairs, he said, was highly unfair and resulting in the haphazard, unplanned expansion of the city whereby it was bursting at the seams.
Hassan said that by some quirk, “developers” had come to replace city planners and had total leeway to go about their projects to reap a quick buck through unbridled construction activity.
He cited the case of one of the posh localities of town and another one comprising 30,000 acres rapidly coming up, where, he said, the poor whose cultivable lands had been requisitioned were never compensated. This, he said, was highly unfair to the less fortunate.
It was the responsibility of the Sindh Department of Culture to provide protection to these lands, but ostensibly it had failed to do so, Hassan said, adding that historical and cultural heritage of the city was as important as the other factors in urban planning.
He noted that there were two acts: the High Density Board Act whereby any area could be declared a high- density area and to enable a high-rise to come up without the due provisions of uninterrupted power and water supply and lifts; and the second one was the Sindh Development Board Act. Through these two acts, the historical heritage of the city was being obliterated, he added.
Hassan discussed in detail the historical aspects of the city and its origins.
The talk was preceded by a film on the city featuring interviews with inhabitants of the congested low-income groups and the problems they faced. Apart from congestion, squalor and lack of essential civic facilities, they also cited commuting which was becoming a tough issue with the passage of each day.
The movie was a nostalgic foray into the distant past as it showed those parts of the city which till about a hundred years ago were absolutely pastoral but were now densely populated and congested slum areas. It also depicted areas which were highly genteel during the colonial era but were now ghettos.
Aliya Iqbal, a member of the Karachi Conference Foundation, announced the schedule for films pertaining to Karachi to be screened at the festival. This is as flows: May 16 and 17 at the Arts Council; May 23 and 24, Seaview; May 29, Frere Hall; May 30, Gadap Town; June 7, Expo Centre.
The day’s event was held through the joint collaboration of the foundation and “I Am Karachi”.
Besides, the launch of a book by Rumana Hussain pertaining to Karachi will be held at the Arts Council on May 14.
Sabah Gill from “I Am Karachi” explained the objectives of the “I Am Karachi” consortium.