I LIVE in sector 11-A of North Karachi. The area, once considered very upscale and posh, has now become a slum.

At the corner of the street where I live, there was a small ground where children would play in the evening, elders took a walk and small family functions held.

One morning more than five years ago we woke up to find the ground had been demarcated in the middle of the night and an excavator arrived and started digging. Soon there were two buildings of three storey each in the once open space.

A year or so later, one afternoon, heavy machines of the KMC arrived and demolished the buildings. The debris of the demolished buildings are still lying there.

In these four years, passersby have made the place a public toilet, stray dogs find it a safe haven and people dump garbage. The atmosphere now stinks so badly that one cannot stand at the place for even five minutes.

Entry and exit from this point are completely blocked.

We have knocked at all the doors but nothing has been done. The KMC and town authorities are requested to look into the matter.

M. A. Khayyam

Karachi

Published in Dawn, December 8th, 2018