No end in sight for Lyari residents’ plight

Homelessness plagues locality as authorities evacuate multiple ‘unsafe’ buildings

KARACHI: The recent collapse of a five-storey building in Lyari's Khokhar Kitchen Wali street, in the limits of Union Council 3, not only claimed 22 lives but also left many without a roof over their heads.

Residents of at least 15 buildings in the locality, including Fareed Mansion, Behram Siddiqui, Noor Mansion and Moosa Arcade, have been asked to move out by the relevant authorities, who have reportedly declared the structures unsafe for habitation.

Challenging this claim, however, Lyari assistant commissioner (AC) Abdul Karim Memon said that only six buildings had been declared unsafe. He added that just a few displaced families were in need for immediate alternative accommodation and makeshift housing arrangements were made for them.

The evacuation notices were issued en masse following the collapse of the ill-fated building, the name of which only a few in the neighbourhood are able to recall now.

What they clearly remember, though, is that the building's structure only weakened after law enforcement agencies dug its basement in search of weapons.

"The building was neither too old nor so weak that it would collapse suddenly," an area resident, who asked not to be named, told The Express Tribune.

"Every other building here is in the same condition. Would you [the government] vacate all of them?" added Abdul Samad Memon, another resident of the locality.

Distressed by the displacement, Mrs Hameed, 46, said she yearned to return to her home in the Ghausia trust building.

"I had been in that apartment for the past 26 years," she cried. "Where should I go now?" she wailed, standing amid a dozen men by the roadside.

Sharing her ordeal, another area resident, Shakeel Ahmed lamented that no alternative accommodation had been arranged for the inhabitants of the vacated buildings. He also complained that electricity and water, suspended in the locality following the collapse, had not been restored nearly two weeks after the tragedy, adding to the misery for many families.

"You [the government] have been constantly telling people to stay home and here, you tell us leave and go just anywhere," said Saleh Muhammad, irate at the authorities' lack of concern. "It is the state's responsibility to look after victims," he stressed, adding that the poor were made to suffer in all situations.

According to Muhammad Javed, the chairperson of the committee constituted on the matter, most residents did not own their apartments, and so their displacement had not sparked much outcry.

In the aftermath

Recalling the tragedy, Abdul Rehman, who once lived in the collapsed building said that his family had felt a tremor the morning of the incident.

"We were quick to leave and moved to Baldia Town," he said, adding that though they had returned to collect their belongings, they left without taking anything. "The building collapsed minutes after we left."

Claiming the government had been completely negligent towards the displaced families' plight, Javed assured that the committee would provide all possible assistance in rebuilding the collapsed structure.

According to AC Karim, besides the cash and jewellery recovered from the rubble, an additional Rs1.75 million was collected after the sale of the debris.

However, he added, the Sindh government had not announced any compensation for the victims yet.

A resident of the building, Dawood is convinced they won't ever receive compensation. "This incident was not the first of its kind," he pointed out, implying that victims of previous tragedies, too, had been left out in the cold. Holding the authorities responsible, he called for them to identify the culprits and take them to task.

Meanwhile, many residents expressed dissatisfaction with government measures, saying that illegal construction was rife despite other recent building collapses.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 20^th, 2020.