MOHAMMAD BILAL TAHIR,
KARACHI: Seeing is believing. Land encroachers, are commonly known as land mafia but now a new phenomenon has been added to the mafia cliché known as sea mafia that rule the roost in this battered city, crying for rule of law and peace which seems a distant cry. The phenomenon of might is right is in full play right under the nose of officials who seem helpless in dealing with this powerful group whose greed is un-satiable. Much wants more and they want the most.
A classic situation has emerged at the Chinna Creek, a natural asset that has benefited the fishing, shipping and business community of the city for centuries. The area now under encroachment lies east of the East Wharf and to the north of Majeed Colony and Docks Colony. It is here that the sea mafia is in full command dumping material to reclaim the area, turning it into a residential colony.
Dotted with mangrove forests that have survived over the years, the creek is surrounded by Boat Basin to the east, Shireen Jinnah and Majeed Colony to the south and East Wharf to the west. Within these busy landmarks of the port city, the creek is an almost ignored entity. However, what the common Karachiites may not see is exactly what they are losing. The encroachment at Chinna Creek area has been made by politically backed land grabbers.
“The creek is being damaged by a group that collects debris and garbage from all over the city and dumps it in the creek to reclaim the sea land,” said a resident of Majeed Colony, who wished not to be named. PML-N, MPA Humayun Khan who has been elected from this area does not seem inclined to take notice and stop the illegal reclamation of creek and is maintaining a conciliatory posture, it appears.
Sources said that concerned department of Karachi Port Trust (KPT) has also turned a blind eye, towards what is going on under its very nose and has totally failed in containing the mafia from encroaching the creek land. “It appears that some officials of KPT, police and land grabbers, backed by different political groups, have join hands in this game”, people in the area said.
Sources alleged that under political patronage land mafia dumps debris of demolished buildings in Chinna Creek to reclaim the land. “For the purpose, a road was constructed alongside the creek to bring dumpers at the creek” area people said, adding that hundreds of tons of solid-waste material and construction debris are being dumped to reclaim the creek land. During a visit this correspondent observed that a multi-story of building has been constructed on encroached land and a boat has been placed on the roof and a political party’s flag has also been hoisted to demonstrate power and influence in the area. This correspondent witnessed construction work going on uninterrupted on reclaimed plots just in front of this building but KPT, for reasons best known to the officials, is keeping mum, their eyes closed and tongues sealed.
Chinna Creek is a vital body of water for the Karachi Port, which is a tidal port. High tides allow ships to move in and unload while low tides let ships in ballast out of the channel and back to sea. “This is a simple yet effective natural phenomenon that has been assisting the shipping community in Karachi for years. However, being so close to a population that is ever increasing, unchecked solid waste has been allowed to be dumped directly into this creek. This form of silt is causing obstruction of the channel by lowering the density and depth of the creek”.
As solid waste dumping goes unchecked by the massive colonies to the north and south of the creek, the KPT is losing money annually by dredging more and more silt each year. Local people said dumping of solid waste and the chaotic build up of colonies in the area was destroying mangroves forests.
Mangrove forests, amongst many other things, act as natural cleansers for the creek by sucking up silt and grime and maintaining a healthy ecological balance, and act as breeding ground for marine life. Chinna Creek is no different, but because of unplanned urban expansion, zero infrastructure investment in hastily and illegally built Colonies and no check on deforestation, the mangroves of Chinna Creek can no longer act as caretakers. Due to ill-planning and criminal negligence of the authorities concerned the government is spending millions of rupees every year to clean up the creek by dredging.
When asked to comment on the cruel de-shaping of the creek, Karachi Port Trust (KPT) said there was no reclamation allowed by KPT in the territory under its control. If any culprit tries to do reclamation then the Anti Encroachment Cell staff of KPT makes arrests and hand over the custody of dumpers, trolleys, individuals, etc to local police authorities. He said that the Marine Pollution Control Department of KPT was very vigilant and it not only protects mangroves but also does the plantation of Mangrove saplings on regular basis. This has resulted in constant increase in mangrove plantations every year. Experts said that reclamation of creek land would result in collapse of sea berths as government had already suffered losses to the tune of millions of rupees due to collapse of two berths in the years 2006.
Area people suggested that protecting the mangroves and curbing unplanned expansion in the area should be the first step to retain what remains of the once glorious Karachi Port. One should not lose sight of the excellent development plan the city government has of building an 8-kilometer protective bund and road, which is to connect Mai Kolachi to the Native Jetty Bridge tracing the periphery of Chinna Creek. Not only is this going to create an alternative route for heavy vehicular traffic but the bund will conserve the mangroves too.
This unchecked development is throwing up yet another burgeoning urban slum. Experts say that this expansion, as we have seen with many slums in the city, will not only worsen the ecological and economic problems in the Chinna creek – but it is going to further deteriorate the law and order situation of Docks and Majeed colonies which will be the direct neighbours of this township. Already notorious for gun running, prostitution, gambling and liqueur dens whose profits allegedly go to terrorist outfits – these colonies need cleaning up they do not need further un-planned and un-supervised settlements in the neighbourhood.
Putting a halt to this illegal settlement is not a difficult task. All the government has to do is implement the decision of the apex court (13 July, 2012) to stop all forms of land grabbing [including reclaiming of the sea] immediately.
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