Sea of slums

Government operations against illegal occupation of land and encroachments have a tendency to turn ugly. Thus, what we saw on Wednesday in Karachi and Muzaffargarh was, unfortunately, within expectations.

The Pakistan Quarters residential society in Karachi turned into a battlefield on Wednesday as a large police contingent reached the site to evict illegal occupants of housing units in the area, in line with court orders. Scuffles quickly broke out among the police and protesters and tear gas, batons, and water cannons were deployed to break up the protest. Over 30 people were injured and at least a dozen arrests were made, while former MNA and MQM leader Farooq Sattar was also booked on multiple charges.

Appeals to the CJP by the Sindh governor convinced CJP Saqib Nisar to defer the evictions by three months, meaning that the issue will next be revisited by his successor Justice, Asif Saeed Khosa.

In Muzaffargarh, former MNA Jamshed Dasti and 90 others were booked for interfering in an anti-encroachment operation. The land, including graveyards, has apparently been illegally occupied by ‘influential people’, though Dasti claims the action was anti-poor.

Meanwhile, millions of slum residents nationwide remain under threat as every government in recent history has offered them the option of stale carrots or heavy sticks as ‘motivation’ to leave their homes. The state’s failure to provide affordable low-income housing has left millions of low-paid public and private employees virtually homeless. While illegal occupancy of existing properties is a factor as well, it is just a drop in the ocean that is the housing shortage.

How bad is the shortage? The Pakistan Housing programme is probably the most ambitious low-income housing ever, with a target of five million units. The World Bank estimated the nationwide urban housing shortage to be 10 million. Another estimate said this could double to 20 million by 2025. Even if the project meets its target, the net shortage would actually increase. Violent evictions will continue till legal housing alternatives become available.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 26^th, 2018.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.