KARACHI: Thirty-three kilometres out of Karachi and on the right of the Superhighway, a small dirt road leads to Dumba Goth in Malir district. From the main bridge on the Superhighway, one can almost miss the goth until one of the residents points it out while making a point. One of the first things one witnesses is a plant barricaded by a brick wall in the middle of a small river, or a storm-water drain, flowing towards the goth.

Two residents of the area, Ameer Bukhsh and Allauddin Palari, take turns to explain how the small river flowing from the side of the plant is actually a rain-fed river, Deh Thado, which was cut to size by “developers” in the area in early 2014.

“This is a stone-crushing plant that you see on the left,” said Ameer Bukhsh.

Historian and writer Gul Hasan Kalmati said that the stone-crushing plant was one of the many such units set up to cater to the fast-growing ‘development’ needs of the Bahria Town Karachi — a sprawling, upmarket gated community being constructed off the Superhighway.

Ameer Bukhsh recalled that the plant was first set up in early 2014 and then in October heavy machinery was brought in to make the wall on its right. One afternoon, a large number of police mobile vans along with SHO of the Memon Goth police station led dumpers and bulldozers in the riverbed making many of the residents think that their goth was about to be bulldozed. Instead, the residents witnessed a camp beside the stone-crushing plant, bulldozers pushing mud towards the riverbed.

When the residents approached the police officers standing on the side of the road asking about what’s going to be built, they were told it was the property of the plant owners, Mohammad Hanif Machhera Group of Companies Limited, and that the men belonged to the “flood relief department and are authorised to carry out developmental work”. It was a month later that the residents saw a wall being built in the middle of the river.

As the river has been redirected towards the goth, it might cause flooding if there is an unusual amount of rain in Karachi. As the construction got over, the river, which was initially 436 feet wide, was trimmed to 100 feet which would be catastrophic for 10,000 residents of Dumba Goth alone.

Ameer Buksh and Allahuddin then went to the deputy commissioner-Malir, as well as Mukhtiarkar Murad Memon subdivision, Malir. An application sent to the mukhtiarkar office in Nov 2014 by the residents of Dumba Goth narrated their ordeal along with the request to remove the encroachment. (A copy of the application available with Dawn has the receiving stamp of the mukhtiarkar’s office dated November 11, 2014.)

After not hearing from both the offices, around 25 residents filed a petition in the Sindh High Court against the encroachment in December 2014. The petition was admitted for hearing and the SHC in its Dec 10 2014 order directed the mukhtiarkar to comply with the court orders and remove the encroachment from the barani naddi (rain-fed river). A copy of the order was sent to the mukhtiarkar’s office and also carries the receiving stamp from his office.

In January 2015, the mukhtiarkar’s office bypassed the court order and sent a notification to the area residents stating that they illegally acquired the ownership of the Dumba Goth land and, therefore, they need to vacate the land as soon as possible.

The matter went on for another three months, in which the residents filed documents of their regularised goths in court. Eventually, on April 30, 2015 the SHC once again directed the Gadap Town mukhtiarkar to comply with the court orders sent between Dec 10, 2014 and April 7, 2015 and remove the said encroachment from the rain-fed river. The SHC also directed the mukhtiarkar’s office to seek help of the law enforcement agencies if needed. But to no avail.

Various attempts by Dawn to contact the Malir deputy commissioner and mukhtiarkar went unanswered despite various reminders.

Anwar Rashid, the director of Orangi Pilot Project, said that Dumba Goth was among the earlier goths in Karachi to be recognised under the Gothabad Scheme which was introduced during the first tenure of slain prime minister Benazir Bhutto in 1988.

Historian and writer Kalmati said that Dumba Goth was mentioned in the memoirs of Seth Naomal Hothchand. The original name of the goth is Dambh Goth as mentioned by Seth Naomal in his memoirs and it was mentioned with regards to an incident that occurred in the late 1840s.

“A caravan of British officers was attacked near Dambh Goth by Chakar Khan Jokhio’s men. They were helped by the Memons and Kalmati clans living in the area,” added Kalmati.

Former Sindh Katchi Abadi Authority director general Tasneem Siddiqui said: “If the residents did not get much help despite having a high court order with them, it means only one thing. The construction of the Bahria Town Karachi has made the nexus of board of revenue and police much stronger within the past two years. They know they have powerful people backing them.”

He added that encroaching upon rain-fed rivers, or storm-water drains, was dangerous as “Perween Rahman pointed it out to us that water looks for a way out during rains and when it doesn’t get it, it destroys whatever comes in its way”.

He added that people would be reminded of another Saadi Town when rains flooded those areas which were never flooded before all due to blocking the natural flow of river.

Quoting from his booklet about the disadvantages of the Bahria Town Complex, Kalmati said there would be a “displacement like never before due to this construction mainly from the 45 goths that surround it or are within its territory. Internal migration, frustration and violence are going to be the result of it which people are not understanding at the time.”

Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2016