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Bahria Town Karachi

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This article is about a neighbourhood in Karachi. For for the developments in Rawalpindi and Lahore, see Bahria Town and Bahria, Lahore.
Bahria Town Karachi
gated community
A view of Bahria Town Karachi
A view of Bahria Town Karachi
Location within Malir District, Karachi
Location within Malir District, Karachi
Bahria Town Karachi is located in Pakistan
Bahria Town Karachi
Bahria Town Karachi
Location in Pakistan
Coordinates: 25°00′N 67°19′E / 25.000°N 67.317°E / 25.000; 67.317Coordinates: 25°00′N 67°19′E / 25.000°N 67.317°E / 25.000; 67.317
CountryPakistan
StateSindh
DistrictMalir
Government
 • TypePrivately owned and managed
Area
 • Total68.37 km2 (26.40 sq mi)
Time zonePST
Size16,896 acres[1]
Bahria Town Karachi main gate

Bahria Town Karachi is a privately owned gated suburb under construction near Karachi, Pakistan.[2] The suburb is being developed by the Bahria Town Group, and occupies under 46,000 acres (72 sq mi; 19,000 ha), just off the M-9 Motorway northeast of Karachi.

The community will include the Grand Jamia Mosque, which will be the world's third largest,[3] and the Rafi Cricket Stadium, the country's largest, designed by GMW Architects.[4][5][6][7] The community is divided by the 400-foot-wide (120 m), 18-lane, Jinnah Avenue.[8][9] The community will be energy independent with a coal-fired and an LNG-powered electricity generation plant, in partnership with K-Electric.[10][11] It is also home to a 36-hole United States Golf Association standard golf course.

The community is planned to house around one million people.[12][13] The town will be connected to I. I. Chundrigar Road by a Karachi Metrobus route in the future.[14][15] As of March 9, 2016, 104,000 residential units have been sold to customers.[16] In 2019, Bahria Town Karachi demanded unplanned 35% development charges, which were later inferred for an unknown period.,[16] it sparked protests and criticism throughout in Karachi and overseas. Moreover, the refunds of illegal plotting are still not issued.

Grand Jamia Mosque
Egyptian Columns
Trafalgar Square

Sub-divisions

Bahria Town Karachi is divided into several precincts.

Sub-division Description
Precincts 1 through 31 Residential plots of 125, 250 and 500 Sqft.
Bahria Farmhouses 4,000 to 8,000 Sq Yards Plots[17]
Bahria Sports City Residential plots around the Rafi Cricket Stadium
Bahria Homes 125 and 200 Sq Yard townhouses.[18]
Bahria Apartments 2, 3 and 4 bedroom low-rise apartments[19]
Bahria Heights Mixed-use development with furnished 2-bedroom apartments and shops.
Jinnah Avenue Modeled after the Sheikh Zayed road in Dubai, the 400 ft road with 500sq.ft commercial plots for high rise buildings.[20]
Bahria future projects agency the 400 ft road with 500sq.ft commercial plots for high rise buildings.[21]
Bahria Karachi Golf Club 36 Hole PGA Standard Golf Course
Grand Jamia Mosque Planned to be the third largest in the world.

Infrastructure

A number of heritage sites and traditional villages have been destroyed to make way for Bahria Town Karachi, often without the requisite legal approval. The development has significantly changed the topography of the area.[22]

Saudi German Hospital Group is constructing a 300-bed hospital on a 12-acre site at a cost of $300 million.[23]

On October 5, 2016, K-Electric and Bahria announced plans to set up a plant for construction of a 600MW energy plant exclusively for Bahria Town Karachi.[24]

On September 1, 2016, China Railway Construction Corporation Limited and Bahria Town Group signed agreement for construction on Blue Line of Karachi Metrobus which will connect the town with downtown Karachi.[25]

Controversies

2016

On 1 August 2016, Supreme Court, the top court of Pakistan ordered Bahria Town Karachi and Malir Development Authority (MDA) to halt the construction work at 5,786 acres of land with an immediate effect. In an interim order, the apex court has ruled the land was illegally allotted to Bahria Town by the development authority.[26][27]

The court also directed National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to complete its investigations and submit a report within two months. It also restrained the Sindh government from allotting any further land to Bahria Town.[citation needed]

2015

Pakistan Rangers claimed in a meeting that Bahria Town has been allotted 44,000 acres from Sindh government, while the amount of land in records is less than 44,000 acres.[28]

Bahria Town officials rejected the claim and report. One of the officials said that the land has been purchased from local.[28]

2018

The Supreme Court decided to investigate the Bahria Town Karachi development in May 2018, citing massive irregularities in the way land was acquired. The apex court barred Bahria Town from selling or allotting land in the Bahria Town Karachi project after declaring that the allotment of land to the company by the Sindh government and a massive land swap with the Malir Development Authority (MDA) was done illegally.[29]

2019

After 10 months of legal wrangling, the Supreme Court agreed to Bahria Town Karachi's final settlement of Rs460 billion (approximately US$3.1bn) on 21 March 2019. Under the terms of the settlement, Bahria Town Karachi will have to pay the entire amount over seven years. In its ruling, the top court ordered Bahria Town Karachi to pay Rs25 billion by August 2019. From September 2019 onward, it will have to pay monthly installments of Rs2.25bn for the next three years. If the company fails to deposit two installments, Bahria Town Karachi will be considered a defaulter.[30] The first tranche was successfully received on 30 August 2019.[31]

Under the terms of the settlement, only 16,896 acres of the total 24,571 acres has been validated by the Supreme Court [32]

2021

Bahria Town's iconic gate set on fire by protesters on June 6.

In April, clashes broke out between Bahria Town Karachi and indigenous Sindhi Villagers when Bahria Town Karachi began expanding its development into nearby villages.[33] In response, many parts of Sindh observed a shutter down strike.[34] Later on June 6, 2021, nationalist parties and indigenous people announce a sit-in in front of Bahria town's iconic gate,[35] later protest went violent and Bahria's iconic gate set on fire by protesters.[36] According to some people of Sindh, the society extending itself illegally with support of Sindh Government and thus some people of Sindh reject this extension.[37]

Following the protests a number of activists and civil society members were beaten or threatened by the police and Bahria Town security. Police arrested thousands of people on terrorism related charges including people not present at the July 6 protest.[22]

See also

  • Sindh Baloch Cooperative Housing Society
  • DHA City

References

  1. ^ Court, Supreme | (2019-03-26). "SC issues detailed verdict in Bahria Town case". www.thenews.com.pk. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  2. ^ Ali, Fahim Zaman | Naziha Syed (2016-04-18). "Bahria Town Karachi: Greed unlimited". www.dawn.com. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
  3. ^ "Bahria breaks ground on world's 3rd largest mosque". The Express Tribune. 2015-01-06. Retrieved 2021-01-23.
  4. ^ "Cricket stadium: German firm lands Bahria's contract - The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
  5. ^ "Bahria Sports City to feature Pakistan's largest cricket stadium - The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
  6. ^ "Bahria Town project and it's invisible hands – The Express Tribune Blog". blogs.tribune.com.pk. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
  7. ^ "Bahria Town Karachi: Balloting held for plots at Midway Commercial - The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
  8. ^ Mansoor, Babur. "Jinnah Avenue Commercial - Bahria Town - Your Lifestyle Destination". www.bahriatown.com. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
  9. ^ "Bahria Town Karachi: Projects received overwhelming response - The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
  10. ^ "Mega project: Karachi to get coal, LNG-based power plants, says Malik Riaz - The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
  11. ^ "Bahria Town, KElectric ink agreement on power plants for Karachi". www.geo.tv. Retrieved 2016-06-11.
  12. ^ "Bahria Town Karachi - Everything you Need to Know". ThePost Blog!. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
  13. ^ "Possession ahead of time: Bahria Town offers excellence, affordability - The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune. 2016-04-01. Retrieved 2016-06-11.
  14. ^ "Bahria Town to build 54km expressway in Karachi: Malik Riaz". www.geo.tv. Retrieved 2016-06-11.
  15. ^ "Bus Rapid Transit only solution to Karachi traffic woes: Penelosa - The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune. 2015-03-26. Retrieved 2016-06-11.
  16. ^ Jump up to: a b Monitoring Cell, Bahria Town Karachi Exploitation (2020-06-06). "Bahria Town Karachi — Additional Unplanned Development Charges". www.medium.com. Retrieved 2020-06-06.
  17. ^ Mansoor, Babur. "Bahria Farmhouses Karachi - Bahria Town - Your Lifestyle Destination". www.bahriatown.com. Retrieved 2016-10-29.
  18. ^ toot. "Bahria Homes Karachi - Bahria Town - Your Lifestyle Destination". www.bahriatown.com. Retrieved 2016-10-29.
  19. ^ toot. "Bahria Apartments - Bahria Town - Your Lifestyle Destination". www.bahriatown.com. Retrieved 2016-10-29.
  20. ^ Mansoor, Babur. "Jinnah Avenue Commercial - Bahria Town - Your Lifestyle Destination". www.bahriatown.com. Retrieved 2016-10-29.
  21. ^ Mansoor, Babur. "Future projects cial - Bahria Town - Your Lifestyle Destination". www.bahriatown.com. Retrieved 2016-10-29.
  22. ^ Jump up to: a b Hafeez, Somaiyah; Musyani, Zafar. "The Battle Over Bahria Town Karachi". thediplomat.com. The Diplomat. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  23. ^ "Dailytimes | Bahria Town, BAB ink $300m accord to improve health sector in Pakistan". dailytimes.com.pk. Retrieved 2016-11-01.
  24. ^ "KE to invest Rs496bln in power generation, distribution network over 10 years". www.thenews.com.pk. Retrieved 2016-11-01.
  25. ^ "Bus Rapid Transport: Bahria Town, Chinese group ink Karachi transport deal - The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune. 2016-09-01. Retrieved 2016-11-01.
  26. ^ "SC restrains Bahria Town Karachi, MDA from construction work | SAMAA TV". Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  27. ^ "Order Supreme Court of Pakistan" (PDF).
  28. ^ Jump up to: a b Asad, Malik (2015-07-02). "Sindh govt allotted 44,000 acres of land to Bahria Town: Rangers". www.dawn.com. Retrieved 2016-04-20.
  29. ^ "Supreme Court finds massive illegalities in land acquired by Bahria Town for housing projects". The Dawn. 4 May 2018. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  30. ^ "SC accepts Bahria Town Karachi's Rs460bn offer, halts NAB references". The Dawn. 21 March 2019. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  31. ^ "Rs 25 billion deposited by Bahria Town: Sindh government urges SC to hand over money". Business Recorder. 31 August 2019. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  32. ^ "SC issues detailed verdict in Bahria Town case". The News. 28 March 2019. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  33. ^ "'They fired at everyone': peril of Pakistani villagers protesting giant luxury estate". the Guardian. 2021-05-28. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  34. ^ Report, Dawn (2021-05-09). "Protests held in many Sindh towns against people's eviction from Karachi's old villages". DAWN.COM. Dawn. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  35. ^ "بحریہ ٹاؤن کراچی کے باہر ہونے والا احتجاجی مظاہرہ ہنگامہ آرائی میں تبدیل، گاڑیاں اور عمارتیں نذر آتش". BBC News اردو (in Urdu). BBC Urdu. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  36. ^ "Two towers of main Bahria Town gate set on fire by angry mob". Daily Times. 2021-06-06. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  37. ^ "بحریہ ٹاؤن کراچی: ہنگامہ آرائی کرنے والوں کے خلاف دہشت گردی کی دفعات کے تحت مقدمات درج". BBC News اردو (in Urdu). Retrieved 2021-06-07.
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