Gutter Baghicha  >  Our Perspective

Shehri-CBE is a civil society organization involved in the protection and conservation of the natural and built environment of Pakistan. Its perspective on Gutter Baghicha derives from its stated aim of research and action to promote initiatives in the areas of recreational development and heritage conservation.

Shehri's stand is that the 1017 acres of Gutter Baghicha, the pre-Independence municipal land located in S.I.T.E. Town along the Manghopir Road, is a public amenity space. Such amenity spaces cannot be converted to industrial, commercial or residential use, but must be used for the public welfare of the citizens of Karachi in general and the residents of the surrounding areas in particular.

In keeping with the commitment of the government, as expressed through the promise made by President Pervez Musharraf on 28th April 2002 to establish a citizen's park in Gutter Baghicha, immediate steps need to be taken by CDGK in coordination with the provincial governments, to resolve all pending issues, including the ones listed below:

  • CDGK shall ensure that no further encroachment on and misuse of the amenity space is carried out at Gutter Baghicha.
  • The auction in 1993 by CDGK of industrial plots within Gutter Baghicha shall be declared null and void.
  • The illegal lease in 1993 by CDGK of 200 acres within Gutter Baghicha to the KMC officers' Cooperative Housing Society, along with sub-leases, shall be cancelled - as ordered vide notification.
  • The illegal leases granted over the period of 1990-94 by S.I.T.E. within the Gutter Baghicha for ten industrial plots shall be cancelled.
  • The illegal lease by CDGK in 1998 of a petrol-pump plot on the 100 feet road at the entrance of Gutter Baghicha shall be cancelled.
  • Other illegal leases issued within the amenity park space shall be cancelled, including plots allotted to Ismailia Garden Cooperative Housing society and Safia Begum.
  • The numerous water hydrants established along Gutter Baghicha boundaries by various parties, with or without the consent of CDGK, shall be removed.
  • The discharge of poisonous/untreated effluents by S.I.T.E. industries into the Gutter Baghicha sewage system shall be stopped.
  • The CDGK shall immediately prepare a master plan for the entire Gutter Baghicha amenity space, and then begin construction of a public park on the open 480 acres that is presently available and later include that land which becomes available after cancellation of illegal leases and encroachments.
 
Carving up of Gutter Baghicha
  • 1.  Ex KMC treamtent plant
  • 2.  KMC compost plant
  • 3.  Amenity plot
  • 4.  Notified katchi abadis of Asif colony, Zubair colony and Hasrat Mohani colony
  • 5.  Illegal allotted to Safia Begum and other
  • 6.  Illegal allotted to Ismailia Garden Cooperative Housing Society
  • 7.  Coconut grove
  • 8.  Unauthorized petrol pump
  • 9.  Unauthorized katchi abadi-Rexer village
  • 10. Bohri Graveyard
  • 11. Unauthorized Ali Mohammad Villageencroached by a chowkidar of KMC
  • 12. KMC staff quarters
  • 13. Graveyard encroachment
  • 14. Unauthorized katchi adabi-united colony
  • 15. KMC fabrication plant
  • 16. KMC asphalt plant
  • 17. ZMC workshop
  • 18. Pumping station
  • 19. Allotted and unallotted graveyards
  • 20. Unauthorized Haroonabad industrial area




  • Nisar Baloch
    A courageous and committed man was killed on 7th November, 2009 Nisar Baloch, resident of Old Golimar, hero of Gutter Bagicha, was gunned down in cold blood by the land mafia. He had spent the last two decades fighting to save what is left of an amenity park in a congested section of this unfortunate city. There are very few persons like him in Pakistan. We salute you, Nisar, and will miss you. The Shehri team & Citizens of Karachi

    Nisar Baloch's Murder (Sequence of Events)

    Events Leading to the Murder of Nisar Baloch

    Story of Gutter Baghicha
    The story of Gutter Baghicha is a story of greed, connivance, and land grabbing by some citizens and officials of this city, and a story of apathy and indifference by the rest of us who call this city our home. A story where the poor have had no voice and a story of deafening silence in the corridors of power.




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    Gutter Baghicha

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