It has become a common practice in Pakistan for influential people to forcibly occupy land, no matter what department it belongs to, for their own use. It is quite unfortunate that this “Qabza Mafia” – groups or individual involved in land grabbing -- apart from usurping precious lands in the cities and towns, has also occupied thousands of acres of land in the river called the katcha (riverine area), where they cultivate wheat, vegetables, and fruit without paying taxes to the government.
To do this, they use poor and homeless or landless farmers, who happily work in the katcha area, constructing mud houses in which to live. Interestingly, today the katcha area from Guddu barrage to Kotri barrage is occupied by several influential people including, politicians, bureaucrats, sardars and waderas, who are almost untouchable in Pakistani society. The farmers cultivating katcha land have constructed protective embankments around their lands to avoid flooding and these bunds have created a bottleneck to the natural flow of the water, resulting in breaches.
After the super flood of 2010, which wreaked havoc in Sindh and Balochistan, the Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered removal of occupants in katcha areas. Following apex court orders, irrigation, revenue, forest, and law enforcement agencies started to cleanup katcha areas, removing many zamindari bunds and houses. For many years, a major settlement has grown on the right bank of the Indus alongside Bunder Road in Sukkur called Katcha Bunder, housing thousands of poor families.
Whenever the irrigation department wanted to carry out operations against that settlement, politicians would hinder them and force them to reverse their decision. But after the super flood of 2010, the Indus swelled so much that it overwhelmed the Katcha Bunder settlement and started seeping through various parts of the Bunder Wall, which serves as a protective barrier between the river and the city.
As a result, the residents of Katcha bunder moved out of their homes, shifting to areas outside the wall on the main road. This situation forced the politicians into action to avoid a disaster. Since residents of Katcha Bunder mostly belonged to the lower class, with women working as domestic help and men working as manual labourers (some are also involved in street crime and other ilicit activities), they had few resources to deal with flood damage.
Once they made the decision to remove that illegal settlement, the Irrigation Department, along with police, started to demolish buildings with the help of heavy machinery. These actions faced strong resistance from residents, causing the authorities to suspend demolition. At the time, the then PPP senator Islamuddin Shaikh requested compensation from the government for residents who would be displaced by the destruction.
The government approved the request for compensation, after which amounts of Rs 300,000 and Rs 600,000 were paid to the owners of small and big houses respectively. After this, most of the residents of Katcha Bunder moved to the Achchi Kubiyoon, an area around ten kilometers from Sukkur.
After the settlement was removed, some residents in Sukkur felt relieved as they saw the area as being a haven for crime, prostitution, and other social evils. However, others saw how the relocation of residents from the area resulted in a shortage of domestic help, which was later filled by residents of slums including Saleem Colony, Regent Colont, New Pind and others.
Over time, the Qabza Mafia has started to once again occupy katcha land, where they are cultivating wheat, vegetables, fruits, and bumper crops, aided by the river. During a recent visit to a katcha area near Qadirapur, it could be observed that the Qabza mafia are not only cultivating different vegetables and fruits in the area but are also constructing katcha roads for transporting vegetables to the city.
In the middle of the mud road, they have installed big pipes to allow water to pass through. Near the river, people were busy working while a tractor trolley full of fertilizer made its way to the agricultural land. Speaking to The Express Tribune, the tractor driver, Saendad Kolachi, said this year they have sown wheat and after the wheat is harvested, they will prepare the dirt to cultivate vegetables. Although the water levels are currently low, he said he was hopeful it would rise in the coming days.
Another man working nearby said the land belongs to the irrigation department. However, since the water level is so low, he said he doesn’t see a problem with people cultivating it so they can earn. Karam Ali Mirani, who was most likely the supervisor of the area, expressed concerns about the correspondent’s line of questioning, asking if I had permission to be there. He said neither the department nor police can force people working there to leave. He said whoever controls the land gives a proper share our of what’s earned from the land to all stakeholders.
He added that workers all live in the city and come to this area to earn. He said no major flood has been seen in the river since the super flood of 2010, which has allowed people to work there without problems. According to Syed Sardar Ali Shah, Chief Engineer of the Sukkur Barrage, after the super flood of 2010, the Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered the removal of all settlements from the katcha areas. Complying with the orders, the irrigation department, with help from law enforcement agencies, removed most of the settlements and Zamindari bunds.
He said his department doesn’t have the numbers or vehicles to go to the katcha and he said they can’t risk going there without a police force since he believes the katcha is a haven for criminals. Shah added that the irrigation department alone is not responsible for removing the settlements from katcha. He argues that the revenue department, forest department and police should also play their respective role in solving the problem.
Despite observations by The Express Tribune from the katcha area, Shah said almost all zamindari bunds have been demolished, since they used to hamper smooth water flow. He said whatever crops people produce in the katcha are ultimately sold in the local markets for cheap, which is helpful for buyers. Interestingly influential politicians alone are not the only ones responsible for occupying katcha land. Government officers belonging to various departments are also getting their due share.