KARACHI: Terming slums ‘sources of crime and terror’, the Sindh government has asked its ministry of katchi abadis to regularise all slums in the province, particularly in Karachi, as soon as possible or prepare for a settlement plan for the dwellers, it emerged on Saturday.

“The katchi abadis are sources of crime and terror and a dream refuge for every criminal and terrorist to hide away conveniently in any of the hundreds of slums in the metropolis,” said a senior official in the Sindh government.

Referring to a report recently prepared by the home department, officials said the minister of katchi abadis had been asked to either regularise the slums on site or prepare a settlement plan for them ‘to utilise commercial potential of prime pieces of land’.

Also read: Plan to remove illegal slums submitted to IHC

Officials said in compliance with the government’s order, the officials in the katchi abadis would prepare a plan for development to reduce criminals’ chances of hiding away in slums.

Officials said the continuous mass migration from upcountry to the city eventually led to an increase in katchi abadis, which, in addition to overburdening the already fragile infrastructure of the city were also proving to be breeding grounds for individuals and gangs involved in crimes and militancy.

“It is a highly perturbing matter, which is among the issues on the government’s top priorities to make Karachi a manageable city,” said the official.

Officials said the government, at last, had realised the challenge of mass migration and was mulling over some practical policies for housing that could protect the lives and properties of urban residents.

“Katchi abadis are centres of crime, where gangs are also involved in stealing water and electricity while on humanitarian side the people living there are prone to diseases because of unhygienic conditions and lack of proper sewerage system,” said an official.

Officials, however, were not sure whether they had any workable settlement plans in their minds as the squatter settlements had been on the rise for several decades and despite several announcements the government had failed to launch a better settlement plan to discourage future encroachment on state-owned land.

The Sindh government’s ambitious schemes named after slain prime minister Benazir Bhutto which aimed to provide cheap housing to the poor across the province has already run into snags as the officials say most plots in Karachi have already been encroached upon while the scheme in Larkana — the native district of the Bhutto family — has been jeopardised by local police.

Officials said the main reason for launching low-cost housing was to tackle the problem of increasing urbanisation of the province. Urban centres in the province were growing at the rate of 4.9 per cent annually as compared to the national growth rate of 3.1pc, they said.

They said the incoming population was faced with housing problem due to weak housing delivery system in public sector warranting several low-cost housing schemes to accommodate the new arrivals.

Since, they added, the housing in private sector was unaffordable for the poor it resultantly proliferated katchi abadis. However, it was not just to curb crimes in the city, but, sources said, the government had plans to utilise commercial potential of certain prime pieces of land.

“The land in Karachi is extremely valuable and, thus, a source of conflicts. The anti-encroachment department is required to play a proactive role,” said an official, adding that progress from senior member of the Board of Revenue in this regard was awaited.

Officials claimed that 90 per cent of the computerisation of the land record had been completed and once it was done as per schedule the government would be able to manage all problems relating to its lands.

Published in Dawn, July 12th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play