Malir, Pakistan: Siddiq Baloch has been knocking on the doors of courts and relevant officials for a while now. The resident of the Sindh province in Pakistan is a longtime victim of what he firmly believes are anti-people projects okayed by the administration. These projects have destroyed the ecological balance of the region, Baloch says, contributing to climate crises.
The Sindh Indigenous Rights Alliance and the Indigenous Legal Committee are two organisations which have been raising awareness regarding climate risks related to infrastructure projects. On July 22, they arranged for climate activists and journalists to visit Malir district, which they believe has been adversely affected.
Pakistan has experienced extreme weather of late, and as per the Global Climate Risk Index is ranked eighth among countries most susceptible to the climate crisis.
The impact of climate change has been cruel on people. However, political parties and those in power have prioritised real estate over the safety of the local community. This has led to people like Siddiq Baloch struggling to protect their land.
Expressway
Malir district has significant importance to Karachi, the capital of Sindh. Malir’s rich culture and history can help one understand Karachi as a whole. The Malir river and its green belt are lifelines to the region.
“You cannot defeat climate crisis if you destroy Malir’s ecosystem through anti-environment projects,” says Hafeez Baloch, an activist with Indigenous Rights Alliances.
Pakistan People’s Party, which has been in power in the province for over a decade, has been accused of encouraging real estate tycoon Malik Riaz at the cost of the environment. Riaz is the owner of Bahria Town Karachi (BTK). BTK, alleges locals, does business by illegally acquiring land from indigenous people. They say that the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) engages in similar practices whenever construction is involved. Both projects negatively impact the environment and are turning Malir into a barren wasteland.
Mining at ancient Kirthar National Park. Photo: Veengas
It has been reported earlier that the BTK is mining within the Kirthar National Park. Kirthar is an ancient mountain in Sindh. The area was declared a National Park in 1974 and after a year, the United Nations added it to the list of National Parks. Mining in Kirthar National Park is prohibited under Sindh Wildlife Protection Ordinance 1972 but the Sindh government has allowed it, say locals.
While the fight against mining would be a long one, the immediate cause for locals’ misery is the Malir Expressway (or MEX) project. Launched by the Sindh government in December 2020, the MEX is a 39-kilometre motorway from Karachi to Hyderabad.
Hafeez feels that the completion of the MEX would double the value of real estate and firms like the BTK and DHA would try to get land from locals by hook or by crook.
Activist and wildlife photographer Salman Baloch also said that the project is harming agricultural land, the environment, and the flora and fauna. It is going to benefit only the two firms, he said.
Built on fertile agricultural land, MEX will run right by the Malir river, which locals feel will pose a threat to the river’s natural flow.
Late historian Gul Hassan Kalmati wrote in his book on Malir that residents in Malir in the 70s were affluent and did not appreciate pursuing government jobs, indicating that living off the land was enough. He said that Malir wells provided 40 million gallons of water in 1911 and 80 million gallons of water in 1985 to Karachi.
Now, there is risk of the natural balance of the area going for a toss.
As per a resident of the area, “Our rich Malir is dying.”
Hafeez pointed at the Belibagh area, where the construction of the MEX is taking place on the river bed. Belibagh is surrounded by a green belt on both sides, which is vital for producing oxygen for locals as well as the city of Karachi. Construction on a river bed is against environmental law and several high court orders. However, construction was clearly afoot when this correspondent visited.
Locals say that now in Malir, no law applies. Despite high court orders prohibiting the collection of gravel, such a practice has gone on since 1940. Now, real estate companies collect it too, in significantly larger numbers.
Siddiq said this practice has directly affected his land. “People who challenge the law are being praised and locals who abide by the law are being punished,” he said.
Other locals criticised the double standards of federal and provincial governments that claim that they are concerned about climate change but greenlight anti-environmental projects.
Salman said Sherry Rehman, Minister of Climate Change, has not uttered a word regarding MEX and its violation of environmental acts.
He also said that the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency should be renamed the “Sindh Real Estate Protection Agency.”
Siddiq Baloch shows the extent of damage to journalists. Photo: Veengas
Asian Development Bank’s refusal to support MEX
Initially when the Sindh government needed to gather capital for the MEX, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) had decided to support the project under ‘Supporting Public-Private-Partnership (SPPP)’. The total cost would be PKR 27.583 billion, with Asian Development Bank agreeing to contribute PKR 4.137 billion to it.
The Indigenous Legal Rights sent a complaint to the ADB essaying how the project violates its Safeguard Policy.
However, while the project itself began in 2020, the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) hearing started only in March 2022.
“MEX’s construction will thus lead to numerous violations of Pakistan’s commitment under its Ecosystem Restoration Initiative and its Obligations Under the 2018 Paris Agreement of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change,” a report stated.
The ADB refused to contribute to the project. While the Sindh government has not explained why the ADB withdrew its support to a project that was ostensibly meant to support locals, it has also refused to reveal the name of an investor who is putting capital into the project within a public-private partnership model.
“The Sindh government violated laws and did not think about the ecosystem of Malir and its people,” said Abira Ashfaq, a lawyer who pleaded Indigenous Legal Rights’ case to the ADB.
Alone and fighting
People affected by mining operations, factory waste and construction say that when the Malir river was flowing well, it aided the land in producing hearty vegetable crops. Now, things have changed, they said.
Climate activist Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, grandson of the late former prime minister of the same name, recently visited the area. “Malir Expressway is spreading like cancer,” he said.
Siddiq Baloch said that the former prime minister had visited Malir and praised its fertile agricultural land too.
Baloch is keen to fight and has not handed over his land to the project. Like him, Baloch woman Ama Hajira is also resolute. Her village has no electricity, no gas and no drinking water. But land taken by the BTK has everything. “This land belongs to me and my people. I will never leave it,” she says.
