KARACHI, April 20: The Defence Housing Authority administrator, Brig Maqsood Hussain, said on Wednesday that beach development would not result in denial of facilities currently available to picnickers. Speaking at a press conference, he said the DHA would actually do its best to improve the facilities. “In the past, I was asked by law-enforcement agencies to close off the beach on the New Year day and on the independence day. I opposed the idea and asked them to tighten security instead. I would never agree to closing off the beach to common citizens,” he explained.

He said the reclamation of beaches had been carried out scientifically after in-depth studies by the National Institute of Oceanography and that the development of reclaimed land had an inherent design component to neutralize the impact of oceanic waves and tidal current. He said that in the developed beach the components of refurbished natural sand beaches, amphitheatres, promenades, jogging tracks and jetties would provide ample opportunities to the common man to enjoy the pleasures of natural beauty.

Brig Maqsood dispelled the misgivings of ulema about Masjid-i-Osman Ghani, which is located on the beach. He said: “I visited the mosque at least two times and noticed that during prayer times cars parked around the mosque would cause a traffic jam. So, the DHA decided to expand the mosque. We came up with a plan of setting up a parking-lot in the basement of the mosque. Of course, we had no idea that establishing a parking-lot in the basement of a mosque is not allowed in Islam. Now that ulema have informed me about this restriction, we have abandoned the idea,” he said.

Answering a question, Brig Maqsood said the DHA had received nothing in damages in connection with the Tasman Spirit disaster, adding that actually the DHA had to spend a lot of money on beach cleaning. He said that the case was in a court of law.