Shifting/regularisation of slums: KPT and Sindh government move along divergent paths

A clash of interest between the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) and the Sindh government is looming large, as the former has asked the latter for hundreds of acres land to shift at least nine Katchi abadis, which over the years have encroached at least 780 acres of KPT land in the vicinity of the Karachi Port.
On the other hand, Provincial Transport Minister Akhtar Hussain Jadoon has approached the Presidency, via letter No 10 (06)/Dir(HD)/09 dated August 24, 2009, requesting the President to order the KPT to issue an NOC to the Sindh Katchi Abadis Department to grant lease rights to the decades-old slums.
While Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, presiding over a meeting at Chief Minister''s House on Saturday, ordered the Board of Revenue (BoR) to regularise those Katchi abadis set up before 1985.
According to official sources in KPT, the Trust had sent a formal request to the provincial government for providing alternative land for accommodating the residents of Katchi abadis.
The shift-able slums, which include Muhammadi or Machar Colony, Gulshan Colony, Younas Abad, Grax Village, Intelligence School Area, Hijrat Colony, Majeed Colony, Docks Colony and NTR Colony, are respectively stretched over an area of at least 339, 244, 85, 31, 40, 11, 10.5, 18.5 and 1.27 acres, which the KPT said had been under the occupation of "encroachers" since early 70s.
"They are human beings and we can not bulldoze them, therefore, we have asked the government for alternative land for their rehabilitation," they added. The sources, however, remained tight-lipped when asked for a timeframe for a breakthrough in shifting of the densely-populated neighbourhoods. They named "Hawksbay" as a possible location for the shifting.
It may be recalled that in September 18th briefing to the Senate Standing Committee on Ports and Shipping at KPT Head Office, Pervez Younsi, KPT''s General Manager Civil Works and Estates, had told the senate body that the nine "encroachments or Katchi abadi" had grabbed at least 780.27 acres of KPT land over the last several years. Pointing out two slums, Gulshan-e-Sikandarabad and Majeed Colony, as a priority for shifting, the estate manager said KPT had approached the Sindh government formally in this regard.
"Sinkandarabad and Majeed Colony areas should be shifted, as our major development programs are due... KPT needs 1,500 acres of land to undertake mega projects, like cargo village," he said, adding the encroached area had witnessed a manifold increase since 1985, when it was spread over 232 acres only. Meanwhile, sources in Sindh government told Business Recorder that the provincial government, through a "most urgent" letter on September 3, had requested the KPT to issue an NOC on "top priority" basis in favour of Katchi Abadis Department to grant lease to the residents of localities in question.
The provincial government, in letter No SO(CCORD-I)/SGA&CD?PDS-549/09, has notified the names of Gulshan-e-Sikandarabad, Muhammadi Colony (Machar Colony), Intelligence Colony, Docks Colony, Majeed Colony and some parts of Sultanabad, PS-89, for regularisation.
"You are requested to ensure appropriate/necessary action into the matter as per rules and government policy," the letter says. Meanwhile, Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah told a meeting of Katchi Abadis Department that those registered slums which were established before 1985 should be regularised, so that development works could be started there.