College employee builds his family a home on campus in Karachi

The gardener has been living in the rooms with his family since 1969

KARACHI: Karachi's encroachment problem is getting worse by the day. First it was the mythical 'land mafia' - a clique of reportedly powerful individuals who even rendered the authorities powerless. Then there were politicians using their clout to flout the land laws.

Recently, however, a new case has surfaced whose main character checks neither of the above boxes. This man, a gardener at the Government Jinnah College in Nazimabad built his family a home on campus almost half a century ago. Over the years, at least three other families have moved into illegal structures built on the campus, where a photocopy shop has also been set up.



The gardener, Abdul Shakoor, has built two rooms for himself and his family. He denies the constructions are illegal, however, claiming instead that he has been paying rent for the rooms since 1969. The rent, he says, is duly deposited against a challan, issued by the college administration, at the State Bank of Pakistan.

"I used to pay rent to Anjuman Islamia when this land was private property, but now I pay the rent to the government after the college was nationalised," said the gardener.  Shakoor added that the Anjuman Islamia had later registered a case against him and demanded of him to evacuate the property.

"But now this is government property so I told Anjuman Islamia I would pay rent to the government. If the government asks me to vacate the land, I will do so," he told The Express Tribune.

Rather than approach the government, the Anjuman Islamia had registered a case against Shakoor.  "The case kept dragging in court for five years, at the end of which the court announced the verdict in my favor and once again, I got permission to work," he said, adding that at the start, he used to pay Rs150 per month, which has now increased to Rs2,200.

Justifying his actions, Shakoor claims that his house neither hinders the learning of the students nor does it create any trouble for visitors to the campus. He also claims to have nothing to do with the other rooms that have quietly cropped up on the campus, adding that he would have no objection if all the rooms were demolished.

Nursery, not home

Meanwhile, the college principal, Muhammad Saeed, told The Express Tribune that the space had been allotted to Shakoor in 1969 to set up a nursery. At the time, the principal had inked an agreement with Shakoor that the room would not be used for any residential or commercial purposes and would only be used as a nursery.

Saeed added that the rental amount was being deposited with the State Bank and the college did not receive any of it. In response to reports of several families living on campus, the principal said that besides the gardener's family, the other two families were of the college's guards.

Inquiry launched

Following news reports, Shehbaz Shahani, the assistant director for inspection at the directorate of colleges in Karachi, accompanied by Syed Ali Abbas Tipu - deputy director of colleges in Sindh - visited the campus to inspect it firsthand.



The officials told The Express Tribune that a complaint regarding encroachments at the college had been received recently, after which the secretary had directed them to investigate the matter. On visiting the college, Shahni and Tipu had found that a space allocated for a nursery had been given out on rent, on which several rooms had been built illegally.

Shahani told The Express Tribune that the agreement with the gardener hadn't been renewed after 2011. Shakoor was still paying Rs2,200 as per the last agreement, which was trivial compared to the value of the land. The assistant director said they would suggest the Colleges Secretary to formulate an inquiry committee to investigate the matter. "We will get the illegally occupied land vacated," he said, besides tracing where the occupants had gotten electricity and gas connections for the rooms.