SEVERAL years ago, the Supreme Court of Pal(istan had given a landmark verdict, declaring the allotment and lease of 200 acres of Gutter Baghicha land to the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) Cooperative Housing Society entirely illegal, unconstitutional and void ab initio.

The 15-page judgement authored by the then chiefjustice served as a decisive victory for urban planning and public rights.

For decades, the 1,016-acre Sewage Farm at Manghopir Road a historical amenity space meant for public parks and civic facilities has suffered continuous encroachment, unchecl(ed industrial sprawl and unlawful land grabs.

The apex court rightly highlighted that local government bodies, councils and ministers hold no authority to convert public amenity land into residential or commercial housing for municipal employees or private societies.

The relevant ordinance strictly mandates that such lands be reserved for educational charitable and public welfare purposes.

Converting a designated green space into a housing colony directly deprives the citizens of Karachi of their fundamental right to a healthy environment.

Recent concerns regarding the city administration`s attempts to utilise some portions of this land for a bus terminal highlight the continuous disregardfor judicial directives. Public amenity land cannotbe repurposed toserve anyother purpose. The court`s direction to the KMC to reclaim the land and develop it for its original purpose of establishing a public park must be executed without political interference and bureaucratic obstruction.

SaleemGhani Karachi