Covering the issues: ‘Go digging before the land mafia lays foundation stones’

NED Professor highlights role of journalists to combat land mafia.

KARACHI:

‘Scandals in the making are the best time to report on them’ is the advice to journalists from Dr Noman Ahmed, who runs the architecture department at the Nadirshaw Eduljee Dinshaw University of Engineering and Technology (NED University).

Pro Ahmed was saying this to journalists who came to attend a workshop on covering the land mafia organised by non-profit Shehri-CBE on Thursday.

The problem of illegal encroachments is amplified when the city wants to do development work. Referring to an example, Prof Ahmed pointed to a case when a few years ago the city nazim made plans for a sewage-cleaning scheme. When the campaign was launched, it turned out that the timeline would be extended by a decade because homes were illegally built on the sewerage lines. “In such a scenario it is difficult to point fingers and decide on a course of action,” he said. “On one hand, there is the administration which is being pro-active and on the other hand there are people who will be rendered homeless.”

The unequal distribution of land is one of Karachi’s most pressing issues. “The poor have to travel 25 kilometres every day to go to work,” he said, “while the rich have houses scattered across the city.” Dr Ahmed gave the example of housing settlements such as Taiser Town near the Lyari Expressway.

Throughout his presentation he reiterated that it was necessary for the administration to know who were the real actors behind land transactions. In 1986, for example, the now defunct Karachi Development Authority started a housing scheme known as Surjani Town specifically for the poor and under-privileged. What actually transpired was that the land was bought primarily by individuals who were not in need of it and wanted to use it for investment. With time, the scheme turned into a haven for extortionists, drug peddlers and other unwanted elements. Many of the plot are still unoccupied which means that land which could have gone to some deserving family is empty.

The Glass Tower case in Clifton is a good example of investigative journalism at its best. The owners believed that the district administration would not bother to tear down a building that was already constructed, even though it was in violation of the rules. However, after massive public outcry, the building was torn down.

The workshop concluded with Dr Ahmed suggesting that the computerisation of land records was the only way to end illegal settlements and squatting. “They should be open for the public,” he suggested. “And more importantly, one should always read between the lines when signing official documents. There is always a link.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 9^th,  2011.