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22 May 1999

KARACHI: Police grab land to build stations

By Arman Sabir

KARACHI, May 21: The police department has encroached upon roads, private land and land belonging to civic agencies for the establishment of a number of police stations and posts that were established after the imposition of the governor's rule.

The newly-established police stations include Sharae Noorjahan police station in North Nazimabad, Super Market police station in Liaquatabad, Federal 'B' industrial area police station, New Karachi industrial area police station and Rizvia Society police station. These have been notified recently without the allocation of land and the police are establishing them after grabbing the land of civic agencies or private property.

The North Nazimabad locality already has two police stations - Taimuria and Haidery. However, in addition to them the police department has encroached upon an entire service road to establish the recently-notified Sharae Noorjahan police station.

Another police station named as Super Market police station is being established on a piece of land earmarked for a road near Gujjar Nullah in Liaquatabad.

A survey conducted by Dawn shows that the police had encroached upon at least seven amenity plots of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation and established police stations there. These police stations are PIB Colony PS, Mubina Town PS, Khokhrapar PS, City Courts PS, Azizabad PS, Taimuria PS and Buffer Zone PS. A majority of these plots were earmarked for market places.

Two offices of the union councils have also been unlawfully occupied by the police department for Sharafi Goth and Sachal police stations. Besides, the Tipu Sultan police station has been constructed at a park depriving the area residents of recreation facilities.

According to the official data, seven police stations - Korangi Industrial Area PS, Zaman Town PS, Shah Latif Town PS, Peerabad PS and Sharae Noorjahan PS - have been illegally constructed on the land belonging to the Karachi Development Authority (KDA).

The Korangi Industrial Area (KIA) police station has been established at a KDA plot, No. ST-11, sector 6-D. Besides, the police also took unlawfully into possession the area reserved for road, some commercial plots and residential plots of Mehran Town to set up the KIA police station. The said plot of KDA was reserved for a public building.

The KIA police station is spread over an area measuring 2,500 square yards. The police department has, meanwhile, sent an application to KDA for the regularization of its possession of the land.

The police have erected the structure of the Zaman Town police station building by encroaching upon 35 residential plots of 60 square yards each and six commercial plots, thus encroaching upon an area of 4,000 square yards in sector 48-B, Korangi No. 1 1/2.

The Nabi Bux police station has been built on a land belonging to the Evacuee Property Trust department of federal government and according to the police claim the outstanding dues on account of rent have been paid.

In addition to it, the police have occupied at least seven privately-owned plots or buildings to convert them into police stations. These police stations established on private land include Al-Falah PS, Model Colony PS, Mauripur PS, Baloch Colony PS, Eidgah PS, Surjani Town PS and Sher Shah PS.

The Gadap police station has been set up at a building meant for a veterinary hospital at Murad Memon Goth and Mominabad police station has been built by encroaching on the main road.

Inquiries show that the police department has to pay over Rs3.459 million on account of rent of five police stations to the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC). These five police stations occupied by the police are Pak Colony PS, Mehmoodabad PS, Joharabad PS, Darakhshan PS and Clifton PS.

The police sources said that the police department had received repeated notices from the KMC asking for payment of outstanding dues for the last 10 years but the department had expressed its inability to pay rent for want of funds.

Inquiries show that a KMC market - spread over 6,550 square feet - was taken over by the police in 1973. It now houses Clifton and Darakhshan police stations. Its rent was fixed at Rs130,656 per annum for ground floor and Rs72,720 per annum for first floor for each of the two police stations.

The Pak Colony police station is housed in the UC-6 office since May 1972, measuring 1,088 square feet, at the annual rate of Rs21,696. The Joharabad police station is also housed in the premises of a KMC market, measuring 11,177 square feet, since May 1972. The Mehmoodabad police station has been established in the premises of UC-88, in an area measuring 2911.62 square feet, for the ground floor since 1972.

The total outstanding dues owed by the police towards KMC on account of these five police stations have risen to Rs3.459 million since 1988-89.

The police figures showed that out of the total 98 police stations in Karachi, 46 have been established in rented buildings of KMC, KDA, private land and others. The police department has claimed to have cleared the payments on account of rent except for some of the places. Nevertheless, the police did not give the break-up of the outstanding payable dues.

The police record shows that 26 police stations were established at government and semi-government buildings other than the police department. The record does not show whether the police have illegal possession of these buildings as these buildings are neither rented nor the property of the police department.

The police department issues notifications to establish a police station without awarding funds to purchase land and build the structure. All such police stations have been operating on encroached land, the sources said.

The social and non-governmental organisations observed that the police were supposed to help civic bodies remove the encroachments and if the police themselves started encroaching on the land of civic agencies, who would get these places evacuated from the police.