To escape crime, Sukkur’s Hindus find a new way out: up
Property dealers report a boom in upper Sindh city as Hindus seek refuge in high-rise residential complexes.
SUKKUR:
There is safety in numbers, not just in terms of community, as Sukkur’s Hindus have found but also in terms of real estate.
Property dealers report a boom in the upper Sindh city as people from this wealthy minority increasingly seek refuge in the safety of high-rise residential complexes. “Robberies and kidnappings are rampant in the area where I lived. Therefore I moved to Sukkur,” said Pawan Kumar, a grain dealer, who previously lived in Bagarji. “Since I have shifted here with my family, I am running my business with without any fear.” Kumar and his family live in a rented flat. “There are good educational facilities for my children here and the environment in the residential plazas is also better.”
According to the infrastructure department of the taluka municipal administration, there are 40 residential plazas in Sukkur city and 60 high-rise buildings are under construction. The new buildings are coming up at Queens Road, Wallace Road, Minara Road, Bunder Road, Miani Road, Military Road, Shikarpur Road, Airport Road and Manzil Gah Road among other places. Most of them have 80 to 150 flats, almost all of them booked.
Many investors book flats for less money in under-construction plazas and later sell them at higher prices when they are ready. “The flats are booked from Rs1,000 to Rs1,500 per foot, and owners demands Rs1,500 to Rs2,000 per foot when they sell them, said Mohammad Ayub Channa, a property dealer.
Not a popular start
In the early 1980s, there were only two to three residential plazas under construction in Sukkur, and it was generally predicted that they were doomed to failure. People were reluctant to live in them as they were more content with living in open houses with plenty of ventilation, mainly because of the scorching heat in the city. By the late 1980s, there were eight to nine residential plazas in the city and a two-bedroom flat cost Rs400,000 to Rs450,000, while a three-bedroom flat could be bought for Rs550,000 to Rs600,000.
Similarly, the rent of such flats varied between Rs3,500 and Rs4,500 a month, depending on the space and locality where it was situated.
Two or three years back, a flat with two or three bedrooms was available in the range of Rs1.2 million to Rs1.5 million and their rent was somewhere between Rs6,000 to Rs7,000. But now, with the law and order situation deteriorating in the city’s outskirts and its nearby towns, a two-bedroom flat costs Rs1.5 million to Rs2 million, while the price of a three-bedroom flat hovers in the range of Rs2.5 million to Rs3 million. The rates of luxury flats with better facilities such as a drawing room, a living room, and an American-style kitchen are even higher, hitting up to Rs4.5 million.
“The fact that people from the Hindu community are shifting into flats has increased their demand and therefore, their prices as well,” said Channa.
Santosh Kumar, who deals in mobile phones, moved to Sukkur from Babarloi town two years back, as according to him, he and his business was not safe there. “Robberies in broad daylight had become the norm there and I was robbed of more than Rs100,000 once,” he said. “There’s a big mobile market in Sukkur and I am doing good business there.”
Vijay Kumar, a property dealer, has just moved from Sukkur from Mirpur Mathelo. “The police did nothing to protect Hindus where I lived before. Most of us (Hindus) are businessmen, and cannot live in constant fear. Now I live in a flat in Sukkur and feel safe,” he said. So far, more than 400 Hindu families that have shifted to Sukkur from its outskirts or other towns have been registered with the Hindu Panchayat Sukkur.
“They (Hindu families) are registered with the Hindu panchayat so that they don’t feel like strangers here,” Mukhi Eshwar Lal Makheja, the president of the Hindu Panchayat Sukkur, told The Express Tribune.
“Most of them have come to Sukkur city because it’s safe for them here. We have no tribal support and cannot fight outlaws so this is certainly a better option.”
Published in The Express Tribune, September 20th, 2010.
There is safety in numbers, not just in terms of community, as Sukkur’s Hindus have found but also in terms of real estate.
Property dealers report a boom in the upper Sindh city as people from this wealthy minority increasingly seek refuge in the safety of high-rise residential complexes. “Robberies and kidnappings are rampant in the area where I lived. Therefore I moved to Sukkur,” said Pawan Kumar, a grain dealer, who previously lived in Bagarji. “Since I have shifted here with my family, I am running my business with without any fear.” Kumar and his family live in a rented flat. “There are good educational facilities for my children here and the environment in the residential plazas is also better.”
According to the infrastructure department of the taluka municipal administration, there are 40 residential plazas in Sukkur city and 60 high-rise buildings are under construction. The new buildings are coming up at Queens Road, Wallace Road, Minara Road, Bunder Road, Miani Road, Military Road, Shikarpur Road, Airport Road and Manzil Gah Road among other places. Most of them have 80 to 150 flats, almost all of them booked.
Many investors book flats for less money in under-construction plazas and later sell them at higher prices when they are ready. “The flats are booked from Rs1,000 to Rs1,500 per foot, and owners demands Rs1,500 to Rs2,000 per foot when they sell them, said Mohammad Ayub Channa, a property dealer.
Not a popular start
In the early 1980s, there were only two to three residential plazas under construction in Sukkur, and it was generally predicted that they were doomed to failure. People were reluctant to live in them as they were more content with living in open houses with plenty of ventilation, mainly because of the scorching heat in the city. By the late 1980s, there were eight to nine residential plazas in the city and a two-bedroom flat cost Rs400,000 to Rs450,000, while a three-bedroom flat could be bought for Rs550,000 to Rs600,000.
Similarly, the rent of such flats varied between Rs3,500 and Rs4,500 a month, depending on the space and locality where it was situated.
Two or three years back, a flat with two or three bedrooms was available in the range of Rs1.2 million to Rs1.5 million and their rent was somewhere between Rs6,000 to Rs7,000. But now, with the law and order situation deteriorating in the city’s outskirts and its nearby towns, a two-bedroom flat costs Rs1.5 million to Rs2 million, while the price of a three-bedroom flat hovers in the range of Rs2.5 million to Rs3 million. The rates of luxury flats with better facilities such as a drawing room, a living room, and an American-style kitchen are even higher, hitting up to Rs4.5 million.
“The fact that people from the Hindu community are shifting into flats has increased their demand and therefore, their prices as well,” said Channa.
Santosh Kumar, who deals in mobile phones, moved to Sukkur from Babarloi town two years back, as according to him, he and his business was not safe there. “Robberies in broad daylight had become the norm there and I was robbed of more than Rs100,000 once,” he said. “There’s a big mobile market in Sukkur and I am doing good business there.”
Vijay Kumar, a property dealer, has just moved from Sukkur from Mirpur Mathelo. “The police did nothing to protect Hindus where I lived before. Most of us (Hindus) are businessmen, and cannot live in constant fear. Now I live in a flat in Sukkur and feel safe,” he said. So far, more than 400 Hindu families that have shifted to Sukkur from its outskirts or other towns have been registered with the Hindu Panchayat Sukkur.
“They (Hindu families) are registered with the Hindu panchayat so that they don’t feel like strangers here,” Mukhi Eshwar Lal Makheja, the president of the Hindu Panchayat Sukkur, told The Express Tribune.
“Most of them have come to Sukkur city because it’s safe for them here. We have no tribal support and cannot fight outlaws so this is certainly a better option.”
Published in The Express Tribune, September 20th, 2010.