I visited Kachi abadi of Islamabad and made a vlog on their everyday life.
Katchi abadis have existed in Islamabad for three to four decades. Mostly populated by the city’s working classes, they are a direct consequence of unplanned growth, poverty, urban development needs, and displacement caused by conflict or natural disasters and, most importantly, due to the housing shortfall in the country, which is currently estimated at over 10 million units countrywide.
In Islamabad, katchi abadis first emerged when labour was required for the construction of the city in the 1960s. There were two main labour settlements at first, one in G8,3 and the other in Muslim Colony near Bari Imam. Once the initial development needs subsided, in the mid70s, CDA started to evict these settlements, resulting in resistance, particularly in the G8, says Ammar Rashid, an activist associated with the Awami Workers Party (AWP) and All Pakistan Alliance for Katchi Abadis (APAKI).
He informs that in the past many of the occupants were resettled to various areas around the city after negotiations, in view of the city’s occupational needs and ethnic profile of the residents. Most of the Christian labourers (consisting mostly of sanitation workers) were settled in G7, G8, F7 and F6 (to serve the upper-class population of these sectors), Kashmiri, Hazara labourers were located around Muslim colony, and Pakhtun labourers were settled in the outskirts, I 11,H 11 and I 10 sectors.
According to CDA figures, there are around 52 katchi abadis in Islamabad, out of which it recognises only 10. The population of these informal settlements exceeds 100,000. The biggest demographic category among katchi abadis is Punjabi Christians who comprise roughly 35 per cent of the population living in informal settlements. Other Punjabi, Potohari groups are around 26 per cent, Pakhtuns are around 20 per cent, and Kashmiri/Hazaras around 10 per cent of the population respectively. It should be noted, however, that these figures were compiled by the Akhtar Hameed Khan Resource Center about seven years ago.
The vast majority of katchi abadi residents are labourers, sanitary workers, domestic workers, or lower-staff government servants. The slum residents, Rashid says, "are in many ways integral to the Capital’s economy, providing a steady, local source of labour for jobs and services crucial to Islamabad’s development and upkeep." However, most of the residents of these slums are uncertain about the ownership of their homes and livelihoods, given the threat of eviction by the state, against which they possess little social or legal protection.
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24 сен 2024
