In a step towards protecting public land and preserving Karachi’s valuable recreational spaces, Mayor Karachi Barrister Murtaza Wahab has initiated a formal process to verify the title, ownership, and legal status of a plot claimed to be situated adjacent to Hill Park in Block-6, PECHS.
Acting on information brought to the attention of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC), the mayor has written to the federal secretary, Ministry of Housing and Works, seeking an urgent and comprehensive verification of Plot No. 39-G-4, Block-6, PECHS, Karachi. The move reflects the KMC’s commitment to ensuring transparency, legality, and the protection of public assets from any unauthorized encroachment or irregular land transactions.
According to preliminary scrutiny conducted by KMC, the plot in question is currently claimed to measure approximately 500 square yards. However, an examination of the original 1959 approved master plan of PECHS indicates that Plot No. 39-G-4 does not appear to exist in the originally approved layout plan. Furthermore, the dimensions and configuration reflected in the approved records suggest that only a small residual parcel of land, measuring approximately 200 square yards, could potentially exist at the location.
The findings have raised serious concerns regarding the legal basis on which a separate plot measuring 500 square yards is being reflected in certain records. Given that the site is contiguous to Hill Park—one of Karachi’s most important public recreational facilities vested in KMC—there is a legitimate concern that land originally earmarked for public use, open space, or ancillary park facilities may have been altered, merged, regularized, or otherwise reflected in private title documents without lawful authority.
To ascertain the facts and protect public interest, Mayor Murtaza Wahab has requested the Ministry of Housing and Works to provide complete records relating to the plot, including title documents, allotment orders, lease deeds, conveyance records, mutation entries, approved and revised layout plans, survey reports, demarcation proceedings, and details of any regularization, subdivision, amalgamation, or reconstitution carried out in respect of the land.
