Lack of proper housing has forced millions of people to live a life of depravation. But with the help of schemes like Khuda Ki Basti a ray of hope can be extended to those with a feeling of helplessness
IT was just another afternoon in Karachi. Humid and energy sapping. But we were standing on a stretch of a long road that didn’t belong to the usual Karachi afternoon. Silent brick houses stared us on both sides of the road. A desolate landscape was available to the scouring eyes. The usual hustle bustle of the densely populated areas was nowhere to be seen. The absence of noise was deafening. And still, we knew we were in Karachi.
We were standing in a place called Khuda Ki Basti-3. A joint venture between the Malir Development Authority (MDA) and an NGO, the whole ground-breaking venture is headed by chief of the Sindh Katchi Abadi Authority, Mr Tasneem Siddiqui.
Khuda Ki Basti-3 is widely spread over an area of 60 acres. Each plot has the size of 80 square yards. In Phase-1 there are 600 plots and in Phase 2 there are 150 plots. The cost of the plots is between Rs 37000 and Rs 42000. Low-income groups on easy installments of Rs 300 per month, are availing these plots and are gradually settling into the area.
This scheme has its own individuality. The element of charity has been ignored and plot owners in terms of installments are paying for all the expenses. None of the services are available before possession. Each family has to stay at the reception area for one or more months until the allotment of the plot and the down payment of Rs 10,000 is made.
The reception area itself has ten rooms with two washrooms for each five in a row. Here families move in before they settle onto their own piece of land. Whilst in the reception area, families pay Rs 150 for 15 days. At the moment, people from Orangi Town, New Karachi, Azad Kashmir and Meerpur are waiting for their turn to have a plot or construct a room on the allotted plot to move into.
These people are intoxicated with the feeling of self-belonging and are living without electricity, proper water supply, gas and advanced sanitation and sewerage.
Here everybody contributes to the welfare of the family, even the women folk. Najma, Fatima, Sharmina and Nasreen are such examples. They are busy with other 25 to 30 such like minded souls in cutting almonds for the local industries. Working as fast as a machine, they are paid Rs 4 per kg and work for eight to nine hours daily.
The joint venture housing scheme is also facilitating the population with schools. Adult literacy programme for women, mobile health clinics and park for the kids are just a few of the initiatives.
However, for all the good that the scheme is doing, it definitely has its drawbacks. Five to eight members of the family inhabit most of these houses. An elderly woman welcomed us into her cozy two-room home. She told us of the inconveniences that they have to face. Although Phase One has a good number of occupied houses, but the roads are not yet carpeted.
Water, the most essential element for any living creature is almost absent. Residents pay Rs 150 per tanker to afford this luxury. A hospital is under-construction.
The scheme, even for its low price, is still out of reach for a number of people. Fatima has paid Rs 15,000 for the plot but cannot afford to build a house. She is afraid as she may be forced to default. In such a circumstance, the defaulter’s plot is cancelled and shifted to some other needy person.
Over a billion people around the world lack sufficient housing. More than 100 million people are homeless in the world. Many people in the developing world suffer from homelessness. Clean water and sanitation services, food and health care are rarely available in sufficient number. This is the world of slums.
Across continents, the globe is changing. The world is marching towards a new era — an era of knowledge economy. Development of advanced technology and rapid industrialization will be key factors in determining a country’s future success. But it seems a dream for those living in slums.
Housing schemes for the poor are something that the government has the authority to develop. Thirty-three per cent of the local population is perched on the edge of a cliff, barely surviving below poverty line.
In Pakistan, according to rough estimates, about 25 per cent of the people living in kutchi abadis, live within the boundaries of cities. Urbanization has forced the low-income strata of the society to discover their own fate and bring something new for them. The basic need of home and hearth has been largely ignored by the states and they fail to realize socio-economic conditions of the poor and the poorest. This ended into illegal settlements.
On the referendum campaign, President Musharraf talked about 20,000 plots for the construction of houses for shelterless poor in the provinces in the form of three to five marla plots. Besides ownership status was to be awarded to the residents of katchi abadies, especially Lahore. He announced that in the next five years, if he is the President for that period, electricity would be provided to every village in the Punjab.
Well, lip service has been the typical style of men in power in Pakistan. If the managers of Khuda Ki Basti are facing difficulties in providing basic utilities to its residents, then why is there no help from the state?
An entirely self-financing socio-economic status would give a positive approach to the allotee and flexible adjustments would encourage them to grow and create.
However, these problems haven’t stopped Tasneem Siddiqui from his future plans for such settlements in Larkana, Jacobabad, Sukkur and Islamabad as well. Still, the question arises that if it would take another millennium to listen to the tales of these unsettled masses, then would it take ages again to breathe new life into their worlds of depravity and desolation?
Even more important is to ponder that if this is sustainable development or not. But, that is for the future to decide.
Lack of proper housing has forced millions of people to live a life of depravation. But with the help of schemes like Khuda Ki Basti a ray of hope can be extended to those with a feeling of helplessness 
