Housing crisis locks out daily wagers

Single labourers are forced to live in match-box sized apartments, where ventilation is rare

KARACHI:

Karachi, a raging metropolis of more than 20-million people is also home to thousands of temporary residents, who come to the city looking for work from all parts of the country.

However, for a city as dynamic and rampantly sprawling, Karachi can surprisingly be a hellscape for people looking for low-cost housing. This has been the bane of daily wage workers and labourers, who are forced to live in match-box sized apartments, where ventilation is rare and ten to twelve individuals cram for space in a bid to afford rent.

According to 28-year old Ataullah Khan who hails from Bajaur Agency, and works a cobbler in the megacity, finding decent housing can be an uphill battle for single people. “Landlords here tend to be biased against single men. They rather rent their space to someone with a family; but even if they do rent, they charge us double the price,” he told.

These circumstances leave most workers like Ataullah Khan with little option but to look for one-room apartments in the grimmest of slums, which too are offered on shared basis.

“It’s mostly people like me- labourers from other cities- who live together. We call our residence ‘Beithak or Dera,’ and we share everything from kitchen to bedroom to toilet and water,” he added.

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Speaking in the same vain, Chaudhry Hakeem who works as a cook in a small hotel, said that rent for a room has gone up from Rs 8,000 to Rs 15,000 in the last few years. “Whereas, the rent of a small house is also between 10 to 15 thousand rupees, which workers like us cannot afford,” he told.

Adding to which, Basharat Ali, another waged worker from Azad Kasmir, said that there are various other expenses, which makes it very for him to save enough to send home. “We have to spend money on food, laundry, phones and other necessities. If I earn a thousand rupees a day, it costs about 300 rupees for breakfast and two meals a day. Similarly, Rs.250 is spent on laundry every week and if other expenses are taken into account then Rs150 to Rs200 are spent daily. If 5 people live in a room and the rent of this room is 10,000, then a roommate has to pay 2,000 rupees in rent. After deducting all the expenses, we barely have enough send home Rs12,000 to 15,000,” he lamented.

Haji Jamal, owner of a modest tea house on Nishtar Road, offers some of his workers accommodation in his own hotel. “Most of these labourers work 12-16 hours a day. So they only need a place to sleep at the end of the day. They are more inclined towards saving and sending money home, rather than spending on themselves. So they are usually looking for the cheapest accommodation option,” said Jamal.

On the other hand, Nawab Ali, a local estate agent, said the non-resident workers are given collective accommodation after police verification and verification by locals. These people are not allowed accommodation in residential flats. “That is why these people mostly rent houses or rooms in the houses of their business owners or in nearby slums on hiked-up rent, which surges general rent in the area,” he informed The Express Tribune.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 30^th, 2021.