Numaish Grounds: Substitute housing for uprooted Katcha residents being planned on shaky ground

Residents visited by two groups, one demanding cash, other telling them to stay put.

SUKKUR:

The government has decided to build 1,500 flats for the residents of Katcha Bunder but the area selected for the project has turned brackish.

On April 19, Pakistan Peoples Party Senator Islamuddin Shaikh held a news conference in which he announced that the government has selected Numaish Grounds as a location for this project. He also announced the repairs and maintenance of the Bunder wall that were carried out on time.

However, the construction of the flats has yet to start, even though the senator had announced that Rs800 million was approved by the government and the construction would start from April 25.

Shaikh had assured that these flats will be completed in a couple of months and, if there is a flood emergency during summer, the residents will be temporarily accommodated in schools.

Shaikh’s media manager, Farrukh Adil Shaikh, told The Express Tribune that since this is a big project, it would take some time to complete. “A team of architects and consultants had visited the site and they are preparing building plans,” he said.

Some other officials have, however, denied his claims. They said that the architects rejected the area and said it is unsuitable for multi-storey buildings. The cost of construction on this land will also be high, the officials added.

Meanwhile, Sukkur DCO Inamullah Dharejo, who is also the project director, explained that the construction was delayed because the fiscal year is about to end and funds have not been allocated. This project will be included in the 2011-2012 budget, he assured.

Dharejo added that a boundary wall will be built by the district government around the project within couple of weeks to protect it from the land mafia.

As the authorities struggle with the technicalities, the residents of Katcha Bunder have been visited by two groups allegedly working to protect the residents’ rights. Members of one group have asked the residents to stay put because no one has the right to make them vacate their homes.

The other group has asked them to demand compensation from the government in the form of cash, instead of land or a house.

Some residents believed that traders — with large godowns in the katcha area — are asking them to stay put, because they will lose a lot of money if the area is vacated.

Numaish Grounds, located in Old Sukkur, are spread over eight acres and, until the mid 1970s, they were a popular spot for the city’s annual exhibition. Over the years, the law and order situation of the neighbourhood worsened and that brought an end to the exhibitions, as well.

In the early 1990s, the authorities tried to develop this area once again and set up over a 100 shops. However, the project did not succeed and, as the government toppled over, people ran away with the construction material from these shops. Since then, the grounds have been left unattended.

The land has soaked rain and sewage water and turned brackish — which makes it unsuitable for a residential complex.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 7^th, 2011.