By Aslam Shah
KARACHI: Karachi’s Hawks Bay area, once earmarked to alleviate the city’s chronic housing shortage, has become a stark emblem of systemic corruption and political interference, as allegations emerge of a large-scale land grab involving former Sindh Local Government Minister Mubeen Jumani.
According to sources within the Lyari Development Authority (LDA), Jumani is accused of forcibly taking control over entire blocks of land in Scheme 42, originally allotted to approximately 4,500 overseas Pakistanis who paid in dollars. Despite multiple complaints, official action remains absent, with observers citing Jumani’s political clout as a shield against accountability.
Two grade-18 LDA officers who attempted to investigate these illegal occupations now face police inquiries and FIRs, reportedly under pressure from senior Sindh government officials who have instructed staff to maintain silence on the matter. Jumani’s affiliates have allegedly seized nearly 50 acres in Scheme 42, erecting boundary walls to consolidate their hold. The Board of Revenue (BOR), implicated in the scandal, is accused of submitting misleading land documents referencing unrelated locations to justify the takeover.
Originally allotted in 1992, Block 16 of Scheme 42 comprised over 3,000 plots for overseas Pakistanis, alongside Block 24 with similar allocations. However, land in Block 1, designated for allottees, has reportedly been encroached by the Askaani community, with portions unlawfully converted into a graveyard. This block also included 258 plots reserved for journalists—another group left in limbo.
Other blocks such as 14 and 28 have already been lost to illegal occupation, while reckless extraction of earth and gravel in some areas has left behind craters more than 100 feet deep. Several warehouses and smuggling storage units now reportedly operate on seized lands, further deepening concerns about lawlessness. The controversy extends to former Anti-Encroachment officials, including Abdul Sami Bhutto and Nafis Agha, who are currently out on bail after being charged in relation to probing these land seizures.
Of the 20,900 acres initially allotted to the Karachi Development Authority for Scheme 42 in 1984, over 9,000 acres have been retracted or lost due to mismanagement and illegal activity. As of May 2025, only 7,124 acres remain legally leased, with key blocks handed over to Lyari Expressway affectees or devastated by mining and construction that displaced thousands of rightful allottees.
