EDITORIAL: The revelation that nearly 1,448 acres of Karachi Port Trust (KPT) land — almost one-third of its total holdings — has been encroached upon is both staggering and a damning indictment of the state’s inability, or unwillingness, to protect public assets.
In a city where real estate prices have soared and land remains one of the most valuable commodities, the fact that such large-scale encroachment has been allowed to fester for decades raises serious questions about governance, corruption, and accountability.
The details of this encroachment are troubling. According to reports, this illegally occupied land includes not just temporary structures such as small businesses and street-side vendors, but also large-scale unauthorised settlements, housing colonies, commercial establishments, and even religious institutions.
The fact that the Sindh government itself has reportedly occupied 350 acres in the Clifton area without proper authorisation further highlights the murky relationship between land-grabbing and those in power. It is not simply a matter of poor enforcement; it is, at its core, a crisis of complicity.
Equally concerning is the situation at Port Qasim Authority (PQA), where around 30 acres of land has been encroached upon. Given that Karachi is Pakistan’s economic hub and its ports are vital arteries for trade and commerce, the unchecked expansion of informal settlements and illegal businesses on such strategic land is nothing short of economic sabotage.
The presence of these encroachments creates inefficiencies, hampers the development of critical infrastructure, and weakens Pakistan’s already struggling logistics and trade sectors.
The legal framework to address this issue exists, but implementation remains painfully absent. The Port Security Force Ordinance of 2002 clearly mandates the presence of magistrates to oversee security and land-related matters, yet these magistrates remain missing in action.
KPT even filed a constitutional petition in 2011 in an attempt to reclaim the encroached land, but years later, little progress has been made.
The absence of law enforcement action points to either institutional paralysis or outright complicity. After all, such widespread encroachments could not have happened without the collusion of officials responsible for land management.
The problem, of course, extends far beyond Karachi’s ports. Encroachments have become a nationwide issue, with illegal settlements cropping up across urban centers. In other cities, too, local businesses and shopkeepers have raised concerns over unchecked encroachments in key marketplaces, causing traffic congestion and affecting economic activity.
Similar stories play out in Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar, and Quetta, where valuable public land is slowly but steadily eroded by illegal settlements while the authorities turn a blind eye.
There have been occasional anti-encroachment drives such as those led by the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) under court directives, but these campaigns tend to be short-lived and poorly managed. Without a long-term strategy and political will, evictions often result in only temporary relief, as encroachers simply return once the dust settles.
Worse, these operations disproportionately target the weakest segments of society — small vendors and slum dwellers — while the more powerful encroachers, including commercial land-grabbers and politically connected groups, continue to occupy prime real estate with impunity.
At the heart of the problem is a fundamental question: who does Pakistan’s public land belong to? If the state cannot protect its own assets from encroachers, what does that say about its ability to govern?
The impact of this failure is far-reaching. Ports and other economic hubs cannot function efficiently when their land is steadily being lost to unregulated expansion. Infrastructure projects stall when key land tracts are unavailable for development.
And, most importantly, public trust in governance erodes when citizens see the law being selectively enforced.
The state must wake up to the gravity of this issue. Land-grabbing is not just an administrative nuisance; it is a form of economic and social corruption that bleeds national resources.
A decisive and sustained crackdown is needed, not just through sporadic bulldozer operations but through comprehensive legal action, stricter land-use policies, and accountability for those who facilitate these encroachments. If the authorities continue to ignore this problem, the next revelation might not be about 1,448 acres — it might be about the ports themselves being encroached upon, piece by piece, until there is little left to reclaim.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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