The chief minister of Sindh conceptually approved the takeover of Sabzi Mandi by the city district government of Karachi (CDGK) as stated in a directive on 17 August, 2003. This attempt can be viewed as a sequence of several steps taken during the past few years to streamline the mandi’s haywire affairs.

The positive aspect is that the agriculture department of Sindh, which has been one of the main stakeholders is the mandi’s management, finally conceded that CDGK is the relevant institution to look after the affairs of the ailing enterprise. One can look at the situation from an optimistic note expecting that an appropriate course of action shall now be followed to address multitude of soaring issues. However two aspects need to be reviewed at this stage; the root causes of the problems and emerging impacts on the operations, and secondly, the alternative scenarios that may be considered to resolve the issues.

The Mandi was allocated land and developed in isolation from the surrounding land use. Interestingly, this pattern of land allocation and development is continuing in the entire vicinity of the Super Highway. Since the city is not governed by a valid master plan, such developments can hardly be streamlined. It was obvious that a project of this magnitude would generate sizable spill-over activities and auxiliary spaces which were vital to be accounted for in the planning and land allocation phase of development.

Transit terminals, retail outlets, security posts, vendor operation spaces, extension spaces for the existing and extrapolating functions and spaces pertinent to commercial storage and support operations were some of the logical choices in this respect. It was also likely that the enterprises related to advanced packaging, export and value added processing could have been provided space for the benefit of incentive zoning. Such an effort would not only have provided the mandi an appropriate and sustainable basis of survival but also the opportunity to focus on expansion into other similar activities. However decision making related to land allocation and development does not usually follow the technical considerations normally ascertained in city planning exercises.

In contrast, they are adopted either to fulfil a pressing need in an adhoc manner or to mindlessly satisfy the dictates of international financial institutions. The Karachi Urban Land Management Study which was completed under the auspices of KMC (now defunct) in 1990 refers to this issue from a very broad perspective. It recognizes the quasi-legal mechanisms that help transact the land for speculation. This is valid for all categories of land without any regulatory check exercised by the concerned authorities.

In short, due to a carelessly worked out development approach, the city lost the opportunity to develop what could have become a fruit and vegetable exchange and processing zone. What remains is a kind of mediaeval buying and selling site that is grossly under-serviced and poorly-organized. The citation of this failure is clearly visible in the form of encroachments and informal developments that tend to house the left-out essential functions. In other words, an uncontrolled land use change is taking place on its own.

The new mandi was developed on a piece of land that measured 110 acres. The scientific basis of this allocation is hitherto unknown. Documentation and analysis of the old Sabzi Mandi shows that it was initially allocated 110 acres of land in the year 1960. However due to mounting encroachments it reduced to one-third of its original allocation. It was apparently observed that the old mandi had become exceedingly congested primarily due to scarcity of space. Thus, after 40 years, when it is moved to a new location, the size of the land allocation is miniscule compared to the manifold rise in the city population and corresponding needs.

The infrastructure of the new Sabzi Mandi is in a totally dilapidated conditions. Water supply and distribution network, sewerage disposal, solid waste management, power supply installations and internal automation appear to be faulty, damaged and disorganised despite the fact that the mandi is not even five years old in terms of operations. Preliminary studies conducted by several independent research groups have identified several issues in these respects.

One, there was a sizable time gap between the occupancy and operation time of the sabzi mandi and completion of its construction. It took more than five years since its completion in 1995-96 till 2000 for the initial utilization of the site. Thus due to delay in the utilization of the infrastructure particularly water supply and sewerage, defects and damages developed which could not be repaired. Similarly the quality of construction was extremely sub-standard, as also reported by members of the Sabzi Mandi Social Welfare Association.

Two, the over allotments of the utilitizable space forced the management of the mandi to create bifurcations and subdivisions in the already constructed structures. This gave rise to a need for increased infrastructure which could not be provided. Besides, in an anarchic manner, the extra allottees hooked on to the existing lines and consequently damaged them in the process. This created vulnerable points from where leakages developed and polluted the whole surroundings. And three, in the absence of proper gantry ways and checks on the movement of heavy vehicles inside the premises of the mandi, the already fragile surface sank down to a considerable extent. Internal road metalling was neither done nor planned.

In the event of rainfall, the space stank with foul odour generated from the open decomposing vegetable waste and unremoved debris. The recent rains in July-August, 2003 turned the site into a totally inaccessible space due to unbearable odour and pools of stagnant water.

One of the most contentious issues of the sabzi mandi affairs is its retrospect of allotment. The project began with a mere 1764 shops and stalls in 1994. It was to be facilitated on the basis of a formula worked out by the market committee; 45 per cent to the operators from the old sabzi mandi, 25 to land lords f/ growers and 30 per cent to new comers to the business. Soon thereafter, political wrangling began. The number of allottees multiplied and the number of shops/stalls increased to as many as 5130. Several lateral entrants to the trade were facilitated in this process by the sitting regimes.

As a consequence, the shop sizes had to be considerably reduced— in some cases to as low as 48 sq. ft. There was mounting unrest on allotments amongst the contending stakeholders which continues till this date. The provincial Ombudsman intervened by ordering cancellation of some contentious allotments.However his orders have yet to be implemented. The matter is still undecided - a key issue that CDGK is supposed to inherit from the agriculture department / market committee.

At present the mandi presents the picture of chaos. Internal management is neither facilitated by the government nor by the local operators. For this reason almost every activity is going haywire. There are wide scale encroachments that can be dotted all along the premises. Unprecedented entrance and parking of heavy vehicles totally block the mobility of the visitors / other users in the premises. Security system has also broken down. Incidence of robberies and internal petty rioting have been on the rise. One such recent incident took the life of a young labourer. Utilization of space for public utility are occupied by extensions of stalls and shops.

Labour settlement is another important matter that has a bearing on the overall performance of the mandi. At the old location at University Road, the same problem was repeatedly cited. Labour housing provision was not kept even in the earlier location. As a result, several squatter settlements sprang up in the outskirts of the mandi creating a totally dilapidated environment. Without learning from the past, the same short-coming remains in the present location.

The mandi is located at considerable distance from the places from where labourers come for work. There is no way to compensate them for their locational disadvantage. In the surrounding areas, the land is swiftly allotted and rapidly developed giving rise to an escalation in land prices. Thus the labour with extremely limited financial means shall not be able to access housing or land options in the vicinity. Otherwise they end up spending half of their already meagre earnings on commuting.

Administrative change can become an opportunity for massive improvement. At this point when the city government is finally taking it over, a fresh and open approach towards the improvement of its affairs can be applied. From the review and analysis of the Sabzi Mandi affairs, it is obvious that it requires an independent executive arrangement to run its day to day affairs. It may be useful if a steering committee is formed with a representation from all the concerned stakeholders to decide about its policy matters.

Under its guidance, a mandi executive committee may be formed to look into the overall affairs of the enterprise. This can be run by technocrats and professionals related to the various fields. Details of the composition, qualification / experience and job description must be laid down by the steering committee. The other most crucial issue is the existing structures and their relevance to the operations. A detailed analysis of the building stock and corresponding infrastructure should be done to accommodate the anticipated allottees and emerging new functions. This analysis should also include the surroundings of the mandi which are currently acting as the extensions of the enterprise.

This work shall make the basis of an amelioration plan that is entirely essential for the current requirements. Among the allocations made for commercial spaces, provision must also be kept for labour housing. The mandi should evolve and develop its own security system which shall help streamline its routine functioning. This security may be either contracted directly from the private sector or raised from within the ranks of the management.

It must be understood that the mandi is in need of a relevant planning and development intervention for its current and future needs. If timely decision is not taken then the chaos will further intensify, eventually nullifying its efficiency and output.