Sindh govt, KMC prepare to ‘steal’ Malir River bed

A project to reclaim land along the river for housing is under consideration.

KARACHI:

If the land mafia wasn’t enough of a scourge in Karachi, the Sindh government has also decided to encroach lands. Around 350 acres of the Malir River bed will be reclaimed to be later sold off to builders to initiate residential housing schemes, it has been decided.

Initially, embankments will be built inside the river bed adjacent to the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) for the land which has an estimated value of between Rs20 billion and Rs30 billion.

The Malir River passes through the north-eastern areas of Karachi before draining into the Arabian Sea. In the rainy season, the river experiences large water flow, but during high tide, gushing seawater enters the river upstream.

The land reclamation will be carried out jointly by the Sindh government and the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation. The Karachi commissioner, Hashim Raza Zaidi, has been appointed as the project director. Initial estimates suggest reclamation will cost around Rs1.89 billion to the Sindh government.

A meeting has been called on Wednesday (tomorrow) to speed up the pace of work on land reclamation on the right side of Malir River starting from Korangi Bridge on its way to the Arabian Sea, a planning and development officer privy to the development told The Express Tribune.

“The government is initiating the project by reclaiming land along the Malir River and appointed me the project director a couple of days ago,” Zaidi told The Express Tribune. “I have no further idea about the project and will let you know after a meeting on the project which will be held soon.”

A few days ago, the Sindh land utilisation department sent a proposal of the prospective project to the Sindh chief minister, who in turn directed the officials concerned to immediately prepare the feasibility of the scheme in consultation with the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation.

Soon after, a meeting was held at the office of planning and development additional chief secretary where officials of Sindh Building Control Authority, Karachi Metropolitan Corporation, Malir Expressway, National Institute of Oceanography and irrigation, land utilisation and finance departments were also summoned.

“The Sindh government can earn hefty amounts from this project. If we do not initiate it, the land grabbers will eventually occupy the river bed nevertheless,” one of the land utilisation officials is reported to have said that at the meeting.

Given the intrusion of sea toward the project site, the acting director general of the National Institute of Oceanography, Dr Ali Rashid Tabrez, suggested conducting a comprehensive survey along with a technical feasibility. “We should be careful about it because seawater remains stagnant at the site for a while,” he said according to the meeting minutes.

The government would soon hire consultants for a technical study at the project site after which the initial financial plan will be prepared by the works and services department. The summary will be sent to the Sindh chief minister for his consent before being approved from the provincial cabinet.

Renowned architect and town planner, Arif Hassan, was surprised to hear about the government’s proposal to reclaim land in the Malir River bed. The reclamation will reduce the width of the river, thereby resulting in flooding during the rainy season, he said. “The river is not for building houses but drainage of water,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 6^th, 2012.