He lives in Mozang, Lahore. Way back, the area was a suburban locality of Lahore with an octroi post; the Central Jail is located nearby. There was an uninhibited mound near here, infested with wasp hives. The area thus, named Bhoondpura. It is now a crowded katchi abadi.

The katchi abadis of Lahore are hardly katchi anymore. They are graded low as building by-laws do not apply here, streets are unplanned and civic services inadequate. The biggest issue here, however, is the ownership of land.

People just start living in places they find suitable for themselves unclaimed by others, mostly situated on the outskirts of city or along the banks of drainage nallahs. They gradually become confident of their possession and invest in building proper houses on these. The structure and the possession, however, remains illegal and they have to frequently grease palms of corrupt functionaries of civic authorities. Land developers who buy land to convert it into formal residential colonies or commercial centers can be more dangerous.

The legal status is the soft belly of the katch abadi dwellers. It thus, becomes their strongest demand from elected representatives. These are generally densely populated with a lot of voters. Katchi abadis play a great role in urban politics. Every candidate has to count how many of these fall in his/her constituency and never forgets to promise ownership rights.

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