The restoration of the Orangi Nullah project began a year ago with mass demolitions that resulted in the loss of life as well as the displacement of countless families who resided there. No protective measures were taken or offered, prompting the Supreme Court to pass an order demanding the government to relocate and rehouse the affected within two years. Here we are now, people are still homeless and promises of housing schemes have been left unfulfilled.
Bodies like the Karachi Bachao Tehreek (KBT) and Orangi Mutasireen Committee (OMC) have done well in highlighting the plight of the affected people. They put forth facts of the way the project was carried out; demolitions taking place without proper procedures, lack of safety arrangements, and complete apathy for the people who were forced out of their homes. Even if they were living on encroached land, surely the government must pay them respect as fellow human beings and citizens of the country. Ensuring that no harm was done was the least that could have been achieved but alas.
Now, the pressure is on the Sindh government to provide homes and cheques that compensate for the damages caused through landslides and improper demolitions. At the same time, the KBT and OMC is also appealing to organisations like the World Bank which provided funding for such reconstruction projects, rightfully highlighting that they should have set certain standards that had to be met and admonish the government for violating them.
By law, if the government asks for land to be re-occupied, it must provide some compensation to those that are forced out of their ownership and homes–whether financial or in the form of new homes. But what remains to be clear is that at least something needs to be done. People cannot be brought to the streets like this as this is a gross violation of most government responsibilities.