The Karachi Bachao Tehreek on Sunday held a protest which saw participation in large numbers of people affected by the demolitions along the Gujjar Nullah.
They protesters said the Sindh government’s policies had thrusted the Gujjar Nullah affectees towards economic destitution leaving them without any shelter over their heads. This protest was held against the additional cutting around the Nullahs as well as the ongoing hardships faced by the affectees. The protesters called for an immediate halt to the demolitions and compensation for 2,000 affectees who had not received any compensation to date.
Speakers at the protest stated that in 2021, over 9,000 homes from the Gujjar, Orangi and Mehmoodabad nullahs were demolished, due to which over 50,000 people became homeless and destitute. At that time, the rationale given for the demolitions was that all this was done for the sake of preventing flooding but in reality, 25-foot cutting was done to build roads around the nullahs which were not part of the Karachi Master Plan.
Even today, despite the Supreme Court’s orders, the affectees still awaited the full compensations as well as the promised 80-square-yard plots, the speakers said. It was said that only 6,932 affectees were recognised officially by the Sindh government whereas there were at least 2,000 homes that had been accepted by the government offices as genuine, including by the Land surveyor, Mukhtiarkar’s office as well as the DC Office.
The protesters also decried the government for deaths in the Gul Plaza incident stating that the tragedy was a direct result of the government’s negligence and poor governance. They lamented that Karachi had become used to traffic accidents, building demolitions and infrastructure collapses, and the Sindh government was to blame for all of it.
The speakers also mentioned how there were five different protests going on in Karachi at the same time, which was proof that the public no longer trusted the Parliament, government offices as well as the judicial process, which was fraught with constant delays.
The KBT also highlighted that the payment of Rs1.45 million as construction cost to the affectees was not enough to build a house in the current inflation. The KBT announced that if the affectees were not served justice, it would increase the scope of protests by expanding them more localities.
