Onward with Gothabad Scheme

That Sindh government has declared over 4,000 out of 5,600 Dehs as rural areas, including 53 in Karachi, has been revealed in a Recorder news report, quoting officials, as appeared last Tuesday. It has also pointed out that before promulgation of Sindh Local Government Ordinance (SLGO) 2001, rural and urban areas were separately administered, under Local Government Act 1979.
As against this, with the SLGO in place, the entire province was turned into urban area, and rules and regulations of urban development schemes were accordingly followed. That was how Karachi found itself under the jurisdiction of City District Government Karachi (CDGK), with rules of City Government, Karachi Building Control Authority (KBCA) and Town Administration becoming applicable to it.
Resultantly, as such, none of the city Goths could be regularised. More to this, as has now been pointed out, all the Goths established after 1985, could only be regularised under the rules of the Sind Land Colonisation Act 1912. Be that as it may, it has now been maintained that by virtue of last year's amendments to Sindh Gothabad Housing Scheme Act 1987 by the Sindh Assembly, it can declare any Deh as rural area, as already notified, excepting Dehs of previous town committee Gujro and four Dehs of Korangi.
However, some 24,000 Goths were stated to have been registered until 1996, and which would be regularised in the first phase. This is to be followed by the survey of newly established Goths and Katchi Abadies, whose residents would be charged Rs 5 per square for the grant of ownership rights. It will thus be noted that the steadily ongoing smooth process of transformation of Karachi from a fishing village into a megalopolis it had been heading for was doubly disturbed in 1985.
It will be recalled that development of Karachi, following the establishment of Karachi Port, virtually meant gradual upgrading its Dehs and Goths scantily spread over its vast landmass encompassing both green plains and rocky hillocks, to the mutual advantage of their original dwellers and new occupants. It is, however, another matter that with rapid expansion of the city and increasing pressure of population, it witnessed the menacing growth of slums, gradually turning into Katchi Abadis, over vast stretches of land right up to Goths or in their close proximity.
All this put together, exacerbated the problems of adequate rehabilitation of homeless people, more so in the wake of distress caused by the senseless 2001 law. Now that it has been reversed, one can look forward to quite some relief, at least, to the dwellers of Goths from the rejuvenated Gothabad Scheme.