| May 18, 2008 | Sunday | Jamadi-ul-Awwal 12, 1429 |
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Of plots and parks
LAST week I was invited to dinner to meet Shuja Nawaz, the brother of my late lamented friend and former chief of our army, General Asif Nawaz, who died with his boots on in January 1993, prematurely (and somewhat mysteriously).
Shuja lives in that beautiful state of Virginia, in the mighty USA, where it has taken him years of deep research to come up with what is probably the most comprehensive story of the Pakistan army from its very humble, straightforward, soldierly beginnings, all the way down through its various adventures and misadventures, to General Musharraf and his taking off that contentious uniform of his.
It is a fascinating story, told in a most readable manner, which well holds the attention and brings back a myriad of memories for those of us who can remember the brighter days. Of particular interest are the voluminous footnotes — many of which are stories in themselves. It is not only a highly recommended rousing read, but a veritable mine of information on that institution which has been for decades the richest, most organised and most disciplined party in this nation that is Pakistan.
Shuja’s book was launched in Pakistan on Thursday, followed by a dinner hosted by the publisher, Ameena Saiyid, the managing director of Oxford University Press (they are all off to India where the book is being launched next week). Ameena lives on a road that leads off from the PECHS Ferozabad police station to the boundary of Jheel Park (her house sits right on and over the park with a magnificent view of a brightly lit-up, well-laid-out, green and orderly area where numerous citizens of Karachi were out taking the night air and enjoying one of our few open spaces that has been converted and built into a fine park — one of the finest of this city.
For this park, the residents of the area must be grateful to the citizens who have fought against considerable odds to save it, to the NGO Shehri-CBE, which for years has been in and out of our courts, and to our city nazim, the young and energetic Mustafa Kamal who has provided the finishing touches. But there is more to be done — the park can be expanded by a further eight acres and that is now up to Mustafa and his muscle.
In the 1959 PECHS master plan one of the parks marked out was a 16.5 acre plot (approximately 80,000 sq.yds.) known as Jheel Park. It had two lakes, one used for boating and both home to fishes and migratory birds. As with all open spaces in this city, over the years, due to neglect and the greed of encroachers, it was not developed and fell into disrepair.
Later on, in the 1970s, it was used by various nursery owners for commercial purposes. Its condition deteriorated further and it became a haven for drug addicts and other undesirables of our deteriorating society. Neglect continued until 1995, after Shehri had made uncountable complaints to the KMC and recruited the help of certain residents of the area who were also concerned about the park. With the help of the authorities one section of the park, which is the presently developed eight-acre portion, was cleaned up to a certain extent, a stone wall built around its boundary, and Shehri planted 219 trees. However, encroachments continued, haggles over conversion continued, and, of course, grabbing continued.
Serious land grabbing began in 1970 when the remaining eight acres (38,728 sq. yds) portion of Jheel park facing Dr Mahmud Hussain Road and meant for an amusement park was wrongfully given to a developer to construct a residential building. Jheel park has been carved out of a hillock and the master-planners, aware of the water scarcity, earmarked this part of Jheel park as an amusement area. The dispute continues to date.
In 2007, Mustafa Kamal struck. He reclaimed all the land that had been encroached upon by residents living on its boundaries, cleared up all illegal constructions and gardens, and started development at full speed. He sought and succeeded in correcting wrongs committed by unlawful conversions and allotments, and the park is now fully developed. It is a superb open space created for the citizens of Gulshan and Jamshed Town — and, of course, any other citizens of the city. He deserves thanks for a good job done. Credit must also go to the citizens of the area who have kept a watchful eye on the park and to officials such as Hanif Nasir, Abdul Malik and Liaquat Ali Khan, and, of course, to Shehri.
The main encroachers upon parks and amenity spaces are the Sindh government (Parking Plaza in DHA Stadium, DHA beach encroachment), big business (Pizza Hut in the green belt in Nazimabad, Kidney Hill, the Hawkes Bay and Cape Monze Sugarland City project), the land mafia/katchi abadis, and, last but not least, those who create ‘places of worship’ in the name of God.
The citizens of this city owe a debt of gratitude to Amber Alibhai, general secretary of Shehri, the backbone of this important NGO. Amber is a courageous and tenacious woman who has battled hard and long against land grabbers, most of whom (and the nastiest) are firmly ensconced in the bosoms of our irredeemably nasty political parties (some are ‘high-ups’). She and her family have been threatened and openly asked to withdraw cases in our courts. She deserves to be given the citizens’ award which overshadows all the ‘tamghas’ and ‘sitaras’.
Now, we want Nazim Mustafa Kamal to continue with the good work and save many more open spaces of Karachi which are under threat. There is the Kidney Hill Park, now under litigation, and there is the 480-acre Gutter Baghicha open space in Trans Lyari, and the Chinna Ground on Kashmir Road in PECHS which has been encroached on by the CDGK itself. This ground has served as the cricket stadium for many young boys coming from far and wide to play cricket.
These sites (apart from many others) must be developed as lungs of the city in which the residents of congested and polluted Karachi can breathe. If the citizens, and particularly the youth of this city had space for some sort of recreation to brighten up their lives we would not have such a heightened crime rate. We are with Nazim Kamal; we will fight with him to try and make Karachi a greener city and thus to hopefully reduce the crime rate.
arfc@cyber.net.pk
