A NEWS item in Dawn of May 21 informs us that federal and provincial ministers and members of the Board of Investment have proposed the development of a $3 million Chinese-funded infrastructure project along the coast in Karachi.

It is requested that this development be discussed with the citizens of Karachi and displayed in a large public space such as the Expo Centre.The reasonfor suggesting this is that the coast of Karachi has a very sad history as it has slowly been snatched away from the people of the city.

The Defence housing society has at various times tried to remove hawkers, horses and camels from the Clifton beach resulting in depriving the poor of recreation both as customers and as suppliers of entertainment. In Shaukat Aziz`s time the entire 16km length of the coast was offered to Dubai investors for real estate development. The elite, middle classes and the working class objected to this very strongly as this would have been a sociological and ecological disaster. Citizens protested, took out processions and filed cases in court. The Karachi City Council in its 2006 strategic plan also took a stand that there should be no development on the seaward side of the existing roads so as to preserve the sanctity of the coast. In one verdict, the courts also supported this. However, this has been completely ignored and no action has been taken based on this judgement.

Meanwhile, the infrastructure development at Seaview has pushed back the sea by 1.6km for reasons that have not been explained to the Karachiites.

Rationally, the land acquired as a result should have been left as an open space for children to play cricket and hockey and for senior citizens to walk and relax. However, this has not happened.

Most of this land has been turned into realestate housingfor the elite and for commercial purposes.

This development will create severe sewerage and drainage problems and will be washed away by urban flooding or a tsunami. The southern part of this space is being developed as parks with various varieties of trees and plantation along with envicrete-like pavings.

This attempt at serving the needs of children and the senior citizens is laudable. But it is too small in nature and the question is: will these trees and shrubbery survive the sleetthatthe sea deposits on all plantations during the southwest monsoon? Experience tells us that it will not.Meanwhile, on the Sandspit backwaters, the situation is even worse.

According to a very informative article published in Dawn and in conversations with the residents of the area, large areas have been taken over, much of them by large developers who have a history of acquiring land illegally. This land contains huge mangrove forests, the destruction of which for development purposes has already begun and boundary walls have been constructed along thefringes ofthis land.

In addition, according to newspaper reports and local residents (who keep a sharp eye on developments taking place), the proposal is for constructing hotels, condominiums and clubs. The villageslocated onthislandwillberemoved as in the case of Bahria Town. There is no plan of relocation or compensation for the victims. In addition, it is illegal to reclaim land from the sea or destroy mangrove forests. It has also been stated in the media that 5,000 acres will be allo-cated to Pakistan`s defence forces.

This scheme, if it is carried out, will result in the devastation of the ecology of the region. It will deprive an already deprived population of entertainment and recreation and create a further eau bet-ween Karachi`s rich and poor citizens.

It will also reduce the availability of catch for fishermen like all ad hoc development in the past has done.

All over Pakistan, Karachi is known for its coast and the citizens of Karachi identify themselves with it. It is the only thing that anti-people rulers have left to them. Let us not destroy whatever little is left of it by leaving Karachi`s coast alone.

All development, if it is to take place, should enhance the natural ecology of the coast so as to teach Karachi`s future generations about the coast and its various elements. It is suggested that the various persons who have taken this decision take into consideration what has been said in this article. And so should the citizens of Karachi, irrespective of their ethnicity.• The writer is an architect.

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