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KGS parents, ex-students meet to fight 22-storey project
KGS set to take on Noman Builders in a tooth-and-nail battle to avoid the construction of Noman Castello.
Concerns raised in petition were answered by environmental impact assessment
KARACHI: The Karachi Grammar School (KGS) is making headlines once again. However, this time it’s not for admissions or academic achievements, but for taking on Noman Builders in a tooth-and-nail battle to avoid the construction of Noman Castello, barely 100 metres from the KGS junior and kindergarten branches on Khayaban-e-Saadi.
Hundreds of parents attended a lengthy meeting at the school’s college section on Monday morning to express their concern and agree to a line of action in response to reports that the building may soon be built. According to those who attended the meeting, presided over by principal Dr GC Platts, the agenda was to inform all the parents, and former students, that the building, to be built on one of the residential plots facing Khayaban-e-Saadi, presented a serious security risk to the children enrolled and studying at the kindergarten and junior sections.
The principal asked the parents to consider the repercussions of the project and unite in resisting it if they thought that it would jeopardise the safety of their children.
“Schools definitely are a soft target,” said Maarif Shah, a concerned parent, while talking to The Express Tribune later on. “Intelligence reports showed last year that terrorists want to target schools to create chaos.”
On the other hand, another parent Shafaq Sheikh wasn’t sure if matters were as bad. “On a personal [level], I do feel security is a concern but where aren’t we faced with a threat? We send the kids to play soccer at Rahat Park and there is a masjid right next to it. I am actually more fearful of that place.”
Requesting anonymity, another parent, who has two children studying at KGS, put forth an alternate cause of concern. “The security risk isn’t really the major issue. For me, it’s more of the traffic congestion, setting a trend for commercialisation in the area and invasion of privacy that really matters. Down the line, yes, this may develop into a security risk but at the moment there is no direct security risk.”
However, as Zarrar Khuhro, another Grammarian parent shares his concerns, the case hardly seems to be that simple. “We don’t know what kind of internal security the building will enforce,” he said, adding that girls play sports outside and anyone could take advantage of being in a taller building to look down at the grounds.
There is a stay order on the construction of the 22-storey building. It was passed on a petition filed by several parties, including residents and the school itself. However, the development that precipitated the meeting seemed to be the finalisation of an environmental impact assessment (EIA) report by the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA), according to which several concerns raised in the petition were addressed – and in most cases were dismissed as being without basis.
For instance, the EIA report, which is also available on the school’s website, says that residents have voiced the complaint that the building could lead to traffic congestion. It finds, however, that this is without cause and goes on to say that the building’s construction will in fact help the traffic congestion because the first seven floors will be set aside for parking. As the principal read this out, several guffaws were heard from the parents, since clearly they disagreed at the suggestion that was being made in the EIA.
“What guarantee does anyone have that the builders won’t convert these floors in office space later?” argued Maarif Shah. “After all, that’s where the money is?” That doesn’t seem to be far from the truth, as according to short interview over the telephone with a representative of Noman Builders, Azhar Hussain, each office costs between Rs25 million to Rs30 million. The EIA report put the project’s worth at a total of Rs174 million. Hussain also said that plans for project have been temporarily shelved to perhaps mid-2011.
Furthermore, the EIA concluded that the construction of the building would in no way impact the cultural and architectural aesthetics of the area – which is more or less residential, barring the two campuses. In its words, the construction of a “beautiful” building would add to the area’s aesthetics. To this, the principal said that the EIA was getting into the business of making a value judgment, which seemed to be beyond the assessment’s mandate or brief.
Some excerpts of the assessment seem to be glorifying the project as another parent, who did not wish to be named pointed out. “In some places it almost seems as if the builders have written the report themselves.” The excerpt in question is: “This EIA Study finds that launching of the Noman Castello Project would respond to the principles of sustainable development that aim at ‘socially equitable and economically viable development to improve the quality of life for all citizens of the Earth, without altering the balance in the ecosystem’.”
The presentation given by the principal was followed by a lively question-and-answer session with several participants speaking to the audience. They included lawyers, who all happen to have children at the school, informing the others of the options available. One lawyer, Barrister Abdur Rahman, noted that success would come only if the parents all spoke out against this and that the issue was not necessarily of the commercialisation of one plot but of the whole road – ie Khayaban-e-Saadi.
Other measures included raising the issue in the media and somehow bringing it to the notice of the Supreme Court. The case, the parents were told, is however pending before the Sindh High Court.
They were also asked to attend the public hearing where the EIA report would be discussed – at 10 am on October 14. For this another meeting has been scheduled at the school’s college section, in the auditorium, for September 29, at 8 am. All parents and former students have been asked to attend.
with additional input from one of our correspondents
Published in The Express Tribune, September 28th, 2010.
Reader Comments (15)
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ugh KGS snobs… the rest of the country can starve through hell for all they care, but ooooh a 22 story building, this should be at the top of the president’s agendaRecommend
wow…a totally different dimension of problems for KGS goers from the rest…Recommend
Wow! elitism on the move, has anyone showed such concern for any school anywhere else in the country?Recommend
Millions in this country don’t even get a decent education… and a few hundred of KGS elite’s tiny-issues get such a media attention… abysmalRecommend
pathetic.. how far under the ground are these ostriches’ heads?Recommend
i’m surprised the tribune even put this up, they’re plenty of high buildings throughout KHI, forget the dangers for the rest of Pakistan. what about our children? don’t they matter. i say they build a 220-story tower just to shut these rich ppl up. and academic achievements my. you’re gonna get achievements when you want 7A on a single marksheetRecommend
Yes of course, if it doesn’t happen in Golimar then it isn’t news is it? You do realise that you’re reading an English newspaper (Elitism alert), staffed by many ex-grammarians (Elitism alert 2), and are commenting online (not too many broadband connections in mandi bahauddin are there?). At least ET has defined its target market without resorting to the sham populism of so many other English papers in Pakistan. As for showing concern for schools elsewhere in the country…Dude! do you even read the papers???
Finally, I don’t think KGS will win this one. They may have stopped the American consulate, but developers are a much more formidable enemy. The Yanks will pack up in 2011, the developer mafia isn’t going anywhere.Recommend
and the point is….Recommend
People usually act out of self interest which is neither unusual nor deplorable. The important thing is to see if there is some general good that can come out of such actions. Yes, there are loads of examples of poorer communities where the rights of citizens to a clean and safe environment have been trampled by the interests of developers. Often the residents in these communities don’t have the resources to fight the developers. It is also rare – though not unheard of – that a third party will step in to take up the fight on behalf of the effected residents. The issue here, is not simply one of a developer’s right to build a high-rise building over a school’s concerns over traffic congestion, security and provision of utility services.
The larger issue is that the city government chose to arbitrarily change the zoning of this street and others in the area from residential to commercial without itself conducting an environmental impact assessment. An environmental impact is not limited to obvious ‘green’ issues like pollution, loss of trees and degradation of animal habitat but also the detrimental effect on the quality of existing human habitation.
The action initiated by the KGS parents should question the rationale and the appropriateness of the zoning change made by the CDGK without considering the impact on existing residents and institutions. A successful challenge to the commercialization of Kh-e-Saadi will go a long way to restricting zoning changes driven only by developer interests. This will set a precedence which will no doubt have a positive impact on future challenges in other parts of the city.
Quasi-populist commentators above need to see the big picture and not characterize this merely as an irrelevant rich people’s issue.Recommend
Thank you Mr. Arif Belgaumi for your very poignant remarks. And when the whole city becomes a mish mash of structures where there is no residential area and everything is up for commerical grabs then it impacts all around. People from Pakistan seem to love London but their planning, zoning and what can and cannot be done is strictly monitored by their local council authorities so high streets are not in conflict with residential streets unless the area is defined to hold both.
For those who wish to know further how this latest scheme is going to affect us residents living here I am adding a little overview below and the date of the protest march
For those readers who may not be aware, right next to Junior KGS is a plot of land (which used to have somewhere near it a board reading Hippodrome a few years back) which seems to have been subsequently acquired by some developers.
The plot is fairly large and due to rapid commercialisation along the road from Boat Basin toward Bar BQ Tonite, previously “residential” homes have been declared commerical property. At no stage were any residents or affectees in this area ever consulted despite being tax payers and ratepayers who own residential home here.
Behind this disputed lot is a “designated” park which is an extension of Auntie Park (it was in the original layout plans of the area in the shap of a L) and was to have been beautified these past 20 years accordingly but was not. People have been eyeing it, even during the last regime wanting to give it to the Americans to make their Consulate here, and hence that too must be protected if the homes surrounding it and across from it are to retain their “posh” locality status. Meanwhile both KGS school were relocated but have not impacted on the residential quality of the area.
The developers intend to turn this lot, bang next door to where little ones go to Jun KGS into a 22 floor building facing the Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Park that was fixed up not so long ago. Behind this area is – Kehkashan – which extends from the 2 KGS towards the Convent of Jesus & Mary and all of which is residential. While houses in this location are being converted into offices and other businesses, for those who have homes here find it a total disruption to their domestic quality of life with the value of their homes rapidly diminishing with this multi-bazaar process.
Meanwhile imagine what is involved in terms of pollution, construction processes, noise, disruption with earth diggers and shifting of earth and what effect it would have on very young children?
More the case is that the locality was not designed for such buildings in terms of civic amenities, sewerage disposal, power supply etc as this area was for only homes like in the area of Defence. The law must be applied to stop this wretched encroachment by stealth which lowers the tone of the area, ruins domestic peace and encourages other elements, hawkers, general public and one might as well be living in Saddar with the whole gamut of commercial activity and not what was supposed to be a designated “residential” area.
For those of us who live virtually around the corner this matter is very serious indeed to our lifestyle quality as there is no way our lives will remain peaceful and without issues as this building is constructed. Mideast Hospital was destroyed and the replacing structure has taken almost 4 years in the making. Those houses that were on the main road of Clifton towards Dau Talwaar are destroyed and the road is commercial. However the areas behind and beyond are not.
Furthermore this area houses many foreign consulates and such a building with its height it a huge security hazard. It would give a panoramic view of the surrounding area with clear overview of the British Dept High Commission grounds, the new US complex on the corner of Mai Kolachi and the whole of Keamari. Kotari Parade and other landmarks would be easily accessed from such a height. Any terrorist activity will be facilitated with the help of a rocket propelled gun (RPG) – please note Corp Commander sahib, and, hence is a bonus security hazard for all those living in this area.
Who did the impact assessment, who allowed this decision and especially where there are residences right besides plus parks for this area, it remains a ludicrous decision and one opposed by many. There was no consultation process or any kind of public notification and what is the Karachi Building Control Authority (KBCA), Clifton Development/Cantonment got to say on the matter is rather sketchy at present.
Parents, residents of this area and those who wish to preserve whatever green and exclusive areas the remain in Karachi should join this march to make a difference.
Tuesday, October 12 • 4:00pm – 6:00pm
Location From KGS College Section to plot 100 yards from KGS Junior School
A demonstration/protest march to be held on Tuesday, 12th October 2010 at 4:00pm (Attendance is very important)
From: KGS, College Section (Parking Area/Slip road)
To: The subject plot near KGS Junior Section
Please: 1) Bring as many supporters as you can; but for security reasons do not bring the children.
2) Make and bring posters protesting the proposed commercialization; emphasize the need for security of children/ need for safe school zones etc.Recommend
I think they should go on with the protest and fighting against the building.
Just because the rest of the country isn’t fighting for their rights, doesn’t mean we can’t!Recommend
oh oh! tribune please give us second to second update of this story. . . 2 million victims of floods are dying to hear how a bunch of elitist kids will have to spend three more minutes in floods right??Recommend
Does anybody get the irony of how the KGS parents are worried about traffic congestion???? LOL
I can just imagine a typical parentstanding there thinking, “Its ok for me to park my Land cruiser halfway down the street but how dare that cheap Mehran park next to me. MY GOD!!! That kid doesnt eevn go to KGS. Shoot them!!! Shoot them all!!!Recommend
The KGS people just won.
Cowasjee encourages even more citizen action.Recommend
So I guess KGS building was in the city’s original master plan?Recommend