The attack on MA Jinnah Road after the Ashura procession was hit by a bomb has not only devoured 46 precious lives, but has also damaged the “Wadhumal Odharam area” of Serai Quarters. “Prior to the partition, Hindu families lived in the area but its beautiful buildings were considerably degraded after the partition,” noted architect and town planner Arif Hasan told TSI.
“Denso Hall area that has beautiful buildings of 19th century has also been affected by fire,” he said.
“Since Independence, Wadhumal Odharam and Ranchore Quarters, the British civic and recreational centres have been under severe market pressures. The pressure being of infiltration of markets from the Old Town Quarters, accompanied with their intrinsic physical qualities, including wider roads and spacious ground floors, than those of the Old Town Quarters. Their proximity to the port is an additional asset. These factors have also encouraged the establishment of new markets,” writes noted architect and town planner Yasmin Cheema in her remarkable study: The Historical Quarters of Karachi.
According to the reports, at least 80 markets were damaged, including Boulton, Iqbal, Chhani, Light House and whole sale and plastic markets. Ironically, these structures have not been put on fire by mourners, but by unknown people , whose main objective was just not to destabilise the government, but to pave the way for the land mafia, who wants to replace them with skyscrapers.
“I was in the procession when the blast took place though I was not close enough to see the dead bodies. But I can say with confidence that people who set shops and markets on fire were not mourners. The mourners were empty-handed and were not carrying any inflammable material,” Syed Zain Haider, 18, told TSI.
“The land mafia may have had a role in the carnage. In fact, I was told that even the gunbattle in Lyari (a slum area near the port) had the mafia's backing because they want to build skyscrapers there,” said Arif Hasan said. He added that after the WTO began dictating terms with a big bang, an underground economy took refuge in the real estate sector, especially related to foreign currency and gold. As a result of WTO policies, this economy is no more underground. It is exerting pressure on the local governments to change the building by-laws, Hasan said. He added that in the model which was earlier operative in Karachi, the most dangerous aspect that land has become a commodity.
“Denso Hall area that has beautiful buildings of 19th century has also been affected by fire,” he said.
“Since Independence, Wadhumal Odharam and Ranchore Quarters, the British civic and recreational centres have been under severe market pressures. The pressure being of infiltration of markets from the Old Town Quarters, accompanied with their intrinsic physical qualities, including wider roads and spacious ground floors, than those of the Old Town Quarters. Their proximity to the port is an additional asset. These factors have also encouraged the establishment of new markets,” writes noted architect and town planner Yasmin Cheema in her remarkable study: The Historical Quarters of Karachi.
According to the reports, at least 80 markets were damaged, including Boulton, Iqbal, Chhani, Light House and whole sale and plastic markets. Ironically, these structures have not been put on fire by mourners, but by unknown people , whose main objective was just not to destabilise the government, but to pave the way for the land mafia, who wants to replace them with skyscrapers.
“I was in the procession when the blast took place though I was not close enough to see the dead bodies. But I can say with confidence that people who set shops and markets on fire were not mourners. The mourners were empty-handed and were not carrying any inflammable material,” Syed Zain Haider, 18, told TSI.
“The land mafia may have had a role in the carnage. In fact, I was told that even the gunbattle in Lyari (a slum area near the port) had the mafia's backing because they want to build skyscrapers there,” said Arif Hasan said. He added that after the WTO began dictating terms with a big bang, an underground economy took refuge in the real estate sector, especially related to foreign currency and gold. As a result of WTO policies, this economy is no more underground. It is exerting pressure on the local governments to change the building by-laws, Hasan said. He added that in the model which was earlier operative in Karachi, the most dangerous aspect that land has become a commodity.
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