KARACHI, April 29: In a conceptual proposal prepared by the Sindh Katchi Abadi Authority (SKAA), Shah Rasool Colony, a slum occupying about 12 acres adjacent to Abdullah Shah Ghazi’s shrine in Clifton, has been selected as the first katchi abadi to be given a makeover on the lines of Mumbai’s Dharavi project, where they built apartment blocks in shanty towns for poor people of that area.
Dawn learned through reliable sources that the project, which is in its planning and research stage, will be presented to the governor later in the week.
According to reports the SKAA had selected two katchi abadis, namely Shah Rasool Colony in Clifton and Essa Goth in Nazimabad, for the experiment but it is now being said that Essa Goth is no longer being considered, although later if results in Shah Rasool Colony prove successful, the SKAA intends to extend this plan to all the katchi abadis regularised under the Katchi Abadi Act of 1987 whereby slum areas established before 1985 were leased out to the residents of the area.
As the project is still in its planning stage, survey teams have been sent out to the location. If the proposal gets an approval from the government, NGOs will be engaged to carry out awareness programmes to inform the residents of the colony about the project and how it will benefit them. But before reaching that stage, a number of things would be added to the initial plan, just as certain things can be ruled out when the subject is taken up at a forum. That’s when it will be given a definite outline or shape.
At the moment it can only be said that this is a 10- to 15-year project that will provide the residents of Karachi’s katchi abadis adequate, free housing. The people living in the area will not be displaced altogether as the project will be carried out in phases. Starting with one acre, which according to an estimate has around 25 to 30 houses, they would build one building, of ground plus eight floors each, one at a time. The residents relocated in the first phase would be provided another accommodation nearby.
There would be proper legal agreements that will mention a specific time period. After completion of the first building, they may move into the new flats. Not just they, the residents of the second acre where the next building will be built, will also be moved into this first building which would have enough room to accommodate them as well, vacating that piece of land and so on.
One wonders if the buildings too will eventually become slums as the people are not used to this kind of living. But then there are residents’ unions and associations to take care of maintenance and all that. The residents of this area are not really expected to sell off the flats as their livelihoods are attached to that area. They work as gardeners, cooks and maids in the posh area that surrounds the slum.
According to Tasneem Siddiqui, former director-general of the SKAA, the proposed project is workable but it is also not without problems.
“This kind of a project needs long-term sustained approach and in Karachi and Pakistan, you can never be sure of continuity in the government. Suppose you dislocate 500 households for a set period of time and the government changes during that period? If the new government decides to shelf the project, what happens to those people then?
“This is a human settlement issue which has to be well-thought up before implementation. In the Dharavi project in Mumbai they worked with four elements – the private sector which is the financier and developer, the city government, NGOs and communities whose job it was to sit down with the people and educate tell them about it all.”
Mr Siddiqui stressed the need for the developer “to be reliable, one who is able to deliver within the given timeframe.” About the Dharavi project, he further said that “a special law was passed in Mumbai for the project. Like where they allowed ground plus four floors, they were given permission by the government to construct two more floors so that the builder got his cost from selling the extra two floors.”
Although the Dharavi project was somewhat a failure, the planners here are said to have taken into account its weaknesses and faults. The covered area of the flats in Mumbai was 200-square feet, which is insufficient. The construction quality was substandard too. But first things first, the people should be willing to go along with the idea of beautifying Karachi. As Mr Siddiqui pointed out, “It is doable, desirable but it is painstaking and difficult. You first need to build trust between the government and the people.”
