Anti-encroachment leniency

Entitlement to illegal land is a prevalent problem in Karachi. The Karachi Development Authority (KDA) has begun a drive to reclaim illegally-occupied government land that was marked for use as public spaces such as parks and playgrounds.

Not believing in the value of such facilities, builders and other greedy minds claimed the land and constructed illegal structures such as wedding halls and schools. At present, the number of occupied lands is undisclosed.

The crux of the matter, however, is the difference between the number of acknowledged occupied lands and the actual number. It has come to attention that the KDA refuses to enforce the rules for influential figures who possess illegal government, and ergo, public land. This points to a very longstanding problem in the country: favouritism and differential treatment towards those who are well connected as part of the system here.

Regardless of who transgresses rules, all need to be held accountable, instead of the opposite example being set here in which influential persons are being allowed to continue their illegal occupancy, despite a citywide clean-up ordered by the Supreme Court. The message conveyed is that so long as one is connected, there is no superior authority, including the highest ranking court in the country that can stop him or her. It is evident that the people running the country are the ones least bothered about its citizens. They ignore the dearth of parks and greenery in the city, which, if the illegal land is reclaimed, would improve the well-being of citizens in more than one way: by providing entertainment spots and better air quality with more greenery.

It might be proffered that some officials are taking a cut from the revenue generated through commercial use of encroached land, such as the wedding banquets and schools. This must be investigated and the KDA must be supported, and enforced, to deal with all illegal land mafias in the same way so that public parks and playgrounds can be added to Karachi’s dull industrial landscape.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 3^rd, 2017.

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