KARACHI: Govt urged to include entire Baghicha land in park plan
By Latif Baloch
KARACHI, Dec 28: Speakers at a seminar here on Wednesday demanded that the entire 480-acre land of Gutter Baghicha be utilized for the construction of the proposed national park as had been pledged by President Pervez Musharraf.
They noted that although the city government had started development work on 163-acre land some four months back, it had not yet planned any work on the remaining project area to be developed in the next phase.
They pointed out that after completion of the design work for the 163-acre portion, a boundary wall was supposed to be raised and this had not yet been done. This, they apprehended, “indicates that the city government does not intend to include the remaining open space in the park project.”
The speakers vowed to foil any attempt by ‘land mafia’ that had been eying the precious land, and urged the city government to use the entire vicinity of Gutter Baghicha for the planned park. They also called for cancellation of all plots, carved out of the Baghicha land, allotted illegally to the employees of the now defunct KMC.
According to them, the Gutter Baghicha area, once spread over 1,017 acres, had already been reduced to 480 acres due to mushrooming encroachments, in the shape of industries, katchi abadis, etc.
They stressed that the national park must be built as per the desire express by President Musharraf while addressing a public meeting on April 28, 2002 at the Quaid’s Mazar where he also promised to restore the glory of Karachi.
The seminar, which was followed by a press conference, was organized by Shehri-CBE in collaboration with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation. The speakers included Shamsul Haq Memon, Provincial Secretary Environment and Alternative Energy Department, Maj-Gen (r) Mohammad Hasan Aqeel, a former ambassador to Thailand, Ms Amber Alibai, Shehri’s General Secretary, Syed A. Mateen, Nisar Baloch and others.
Ms Alibai briefed the participants about the role of Shehri in saving the Gutter Baghicha.
She said that after achieving success to a great extent in the first phase, the NGO had now launched the second phase, during which it would make efforts to ensure that the city government covered the entire Baghicha land in developing the national park.
In reply to a question, she said that the Shehri had documented the record of marble factories and the same would be presented to the authorities concerned for their removal. She maintained that these factories had been creating environmental problem in the whole locality by creating unhygienic condition leading to various ailments.
Nisar Baloch briefed the audience about the history of Gutter Baghicha, and recalled that over the past three decades, it had become more a gutter and less a Baghicha (garden). Growing population, unauthorized housing and failure of the government in ensuring a sanitation system for the vast area had resulted in unhygienic conditions in and around this old area.
A treatment plant installed in 1961 in the Baghicha vicinity was no longer in working condition. However, the storm water channels, built by British rulers, were still in order and bringing in water from Lyari River and wastewater from the Site industrial area. This untreated water, unfit for human consumption, was being illegally used for cultivation purposes, he stated.
Most of the speakers called for mobilizing masses in order to make the government move for protecting the precious state land from being grabbed by various mafias involved in different activities, including setting up illegal industries, factories and hydrants in and around the project site.
In his concluding remarks, Shamsul Haq Memon appreciated the Shehri for its relentless struggling towards protecting the Gutter Baghicha land. With the collective efforts by the Shehri and other such NGOs, as well as active support from local people, the aims and objectives of the struggle would be achieved, he hoped.
He assured the Shehri that he would take up the issues at all appropriate forums. He expressed his optimism that the new city government would take the project seriously and resolve the problems being faced by people in this regard.
Participants of the seminar suggested that a delegation comprising representatives from the Shehri and other NGOs should call on the new city nazim to apprise him of the problems. The suggestion was approved. It was decided that a walk to highlight the issue would also be held.
Earlier, a group of journalists was taken to the Gutter Baghicha where tankers were seen fetching water from the illegally set up hydrants.
KARACHI, Dec 28: Speakers at a seminar here on Wednesday demanded that the entire 480-acre land of Gutter Baghicha be utilized for the construction of the proposed national park as had been pledged by President Pervez Musharraf.
