Arif Hasan fears Katchi Abadis will be wiped out throughout Karachi

Urban planner Arif Hasan fears that wherever there are Katchi Abadis in Karachi, these settlements will be wiped out throughout the city because of their land value.

Addressing a joint news conference held at the Karachi Press Club on Thursday for the rehabilitation of those affected by the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) project, Hasan claimed that the Sindh High Density Development Board Act will help developers get rid of such settlements.

On May 9 the Supreme Court had given 15 days to the Pakistan Railways to remove encroachments from the KCR’s right of way and hand it over to the Sindh government to start its operations in another 15 days. Soon after the SC order a major portion of the KCR’s track in the Central and East districts was cleared of encroachments and illegal structures, including houses where people had been living.

On June 9 the government promised the people who had been rendered homeless to arrange makeshift tents and mobile toilets for them, but like many of the government’s promises, it was not fulfilled.

Hasan said that this is not only the case with the KCR land, adding that what happened to the people residing over the circular railway land will gradually happen to all such settlements.

He said that the real problem is that of law, which should make it compulsory on the authorities to properly relocate the people before their houses are demolished.

“It should not happen that you demolish their homes and then ask them to relocate whenever the alternative homes are constructed,” he said, adding that when the population estimates of such settlements are done, it should be determined how many schools and madrasas function there and how many children go to school, and in the alternative plan those kids should be accommodated. “People will eventually forget whatever is happening with those affected by the KCR project,” he said. He advised them to formulate their own committee and make their voices heard.

On the occasion, the KCR Affectees Action Committee once again demanded that the federal, provincial and local governments provide them with alternative houses near their old settlements in the light of the SC’s order.

“We should be part of our rehabilitation committee so that the residents come out of uncertainty,” their statement said. The committee also asked for temporary structures to be constructed in their old settlements, such as toilets, until they are provided with alternatives.

They also demanded that the affected people be provided with special aid during Eidul Azha. Whatever land is required to construct the KCR project should be taken, while the rest of the land should to be leased out to the affected people, they said.

The committee also expressed willingness to hand over the KCR project back to the Japan International Corporation Agency (Jica). They said that Jica had conducted surveys for the KCR in 2009 and 2012, and notified such Katchi Abadis surrounding the project’s land.

The committee demanded a fresh survey and a new environmental impact assessment (EIA) report. They pointed out that legally, if three years have passed since the first EIA was conducted and the project was not even started, then a fresh assessment becomes mandatory. They also said that the police threaten the people living in the demolished houses on the KCR land. They accused the law enforcers of even demolishing the shades under which the residents take shelter during the rain.