SETTLEMENT PROFILES

Orangi Town

Orangi Town is notorious for being the largest slum in the world with a size over 8,00 acres and home to roughly 2.4 million people (this number is likely underestimated due to the lack of census and demographic data collected from within the communities) (Ghandhara, 2016). Orangi Town, unlike other informal settlements, experiences a large amount of sprawl and was originally the place of conflict between the Mohajirs refugees and Pathans in the 1990s (Siddiqi, 2009). The settlement is disproportionately impacted by urban flooding given its low-elevation compared to the rest of Karachi (Independent Digital News and Media, 2020). The residents of Orangi Town have been facing issues of urban flooding due to blocked drainage pipes and a lack of sewage pipelines for years.

The settlement’s large population was initiated by the refugees from the Partition in 1947 and has continued to rise exponentially with Pakistan’s own population. By around 1950, the massive size of the settlements forced the Karachi government to issue refugees with “slips” that provided them permission to live and develop informal settlements on vacant land (Reuters, 2016). More than 20 years later in the 1970s, the Orangi Town settlement was granted partial acceptance by the government and a land titling and upgrading system was initiated, directed towards helping the community-driven upgrades that were already taking place.

We are fed up with stench of wastewater and frequent mosquito-borne diseases like malaria and dengue fever. So, we have decided to lay a sewerage pipeline in our street on a self-help basis

(Javed. S, community member)

In Orangi Town, housing is not thought of as an issue (Rockefeller Foundation, 2013). People regularly build homes out of locally manufactured concrete blocks and are able to house between eight and 10 people. A thriving informal economy is also present in Orangi Town and many people have micro businesses out of their homes. The real issue is the lack of resilient and clean infrastructure, which creates dangerous situations for residents especially after flooding events. (Saeed, 2016)

PAHAR GANJ (QASBA COLONY)

Located in the hills of the northeastern section of the city, Pahar Ganj is largely home to Pashtun Muslim migrants from northern Pakistan and Christians from Punjab. Pahar Ganj has had drainage channels developed throughout history, but many have fallen into disrepair. Due to this, flooding has become a rampant issue. The former potable water resource for the settlement came from a now dried-up well and residents currently resort to getting water from the adjacent planned neighborhoods (Hasan et al, 2017).

Solid waste disposal is also a significant problem within the settlement. Waste builds up and is picked up irregularly by the Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC). Piles of solid waste are not only an annoyance for residents but serve as an extreme health hazard. In efforts to mitigate some of the waste disposal responsibilities, city workers often set fire to waste which causes even more health complications and air pollution. During monsoon season, the settlement’s stormwater drain becomes overfilled and floods the streets with wastewater. Despite these challenges, this area of the city is rapidly rising in value and both developers and the city are creating constant pressure on residents to move out, only to be forced into an area that is also failed by the government of Karachi.

REHRI GOTH (QASBA COLONY)

Rehri Goth is a historical fishing village located on Korangi Creek on the southeast section of Karachi on land owned by the Karachi Port Trust. Home to more than 45,000 people, most of whom are Sindhi speakers, it is a mix of migrants and native-born populations. Being located on a body of water, flooding and water pollution create a constant threat. Many of the settlements sit below road level and neighboring villages often dump waste directly into the sea., causing severe pollution in Rehri Goth and causing the fishing economy to deplete over the last several decades.

The infrastructure built by the Karachi government to supply water provides very little to meet the needs of Rehri Goth’s residents, most of whom rely on vendors to get clean, potable water. This lack of drinkable water and poor infrastructure, like in many other settlements in the Sindh Province of Pakistan, led to over 1,200 deaths during the heatwave of 2015.

Due to global warming, it is suggested that “mega-heatwaves” will become increasingly more common in the future (up to 10 times more likely over the next 40 years). Therefore, due to previous events of heat waves in the country as well as in neighboring India claiming hundreds of lives, this current death toll could have been prevented if authorities took serious and timely decisions.

(I.

Masood, National Library of Medicine)

The deaths in the 2015 heatwave were primarily caused by severe dehydration and heatstroke. Within a span of three days, temperatures rose to around 113°F, highs that had not been seen in the region since 1938. (Masood et al, 2015).

Machar Colony

With over a million inhabitants, most of whom are Bengali or Burmese, Machar is one of the largest urban settlements in Karachi. Situated near Karachi’s West Wharf, Machar covers an area of 4.5 km2 (Hasan et al, 2017). The Karachi Port Trust (KPT) owns the property where the Machar settlement is located. Due to its closeness to the harbor and the port, the settlement started to grow dramatically in the 1960s and migrants were able to find jobs in the fishing business. Today, many of the residences in the colony have structural problems given that a large portion of the land was created by reclaiming mangroves and wetlands. For the people of Machar, the fear of rising sea levels is omnipresent.

Machar suffers from improper trash disposal, leading to health difficulties for the surrounding population. Hundreds of trucks of garbage are dumped each day. This in turn has filled much of the surrounding valleys with huge piles of trash (Zahidi , 2015). In the past two decades, it is believed that Machar Colony has been raised over 10 feet due to an improper drainage system that leads to massive levels of flooding. Stagnant water and an improper sewage reclamation system are among the community’s largest issues. Most residents have access to utilities like electricity and gas, yet many are left without clean drinking water.

LABOUR SQUARE (LABOR COLONY)

Labour Square was originally established as a lowincome housing project for the residents of Karachi but by 2010, the settlement served as a sanctuary for Pakistani citizens fleeing from flooding in the surrounding Sindh Province (Hasan et al, 2017). What was meant to be a temporary housing situation, soon became permanent housing for hundreds of residents, despite the actions of Karachi’s Labor Department. Due to this, the government has been reluctant to offer any type of fundamental services or facilities management to the people of Labour Square. This has caused trash to accumulate and illnesses like malaria, typhoid, and hepatitis to proliferate. Several residents died during the 2015 heat wave, much in part because water is not provided by the city, as in the case of many other informal settlements within Karachi.