karachi - shujauddin qureshi
Whither city delights?
Apathy of authorities makes Karachi less attractive for tourists, even though it has its fair share of fascinating sights and sounds
By Shujauddin Qureshi
"Karachi has a lot to offer to tourists, but the authorities have never thought to develop it for the visitors," opines Arif Hassan, a noted architect of the city and chief of Urban Resource Centre, a local non-governmental organisation.
Karachi with a population of over 14m has a lot to offer to the strangers, but no conscious effort has been made to present it as a tourist stopover. A lot of foreign and local tourists often come in the city and they visit shopping centres, beaches, museum and historical buildings, but law and order, dilapidated condition of city roads and lack of transport and other civic facilities make the city less attractive for the tourists.
"We have a rich culture and heritage to offer to tourists, but the authorities have not developed anything to attract them," says Hassan.
Concerned citizens have always demanded preservation of the city's cultural and architectural heritage to attract tourists, but the authorities over the past years have opted to develop schemes keeping commercial aspects in mind.
The city has a rich culture, which is full of colours. Every Thursday hundreds of Makrani youth from Lyari riding on their small donkey-carts go to Clifton beach to take part in donkey-cart racing. A large number of the faithful gather at the mazaar of Abdullah Shah Ghazi every Friday and a festival-like atmosphere is created. Every year, Sheedi Mela at the Manghopir mazaar attracts thousands of faithful from other areas of Sindh and Balochistan.
Mangrove forests in the creeks of Karachi, fishing villages of Rheri, Ibrahim Haideri, Baba and Bhit islands and the famous Empress Market, Bohri Bazar, Zainab Market have the potential of becoming big attractions for the people to visit. But no government organisation meant to promote tourism has ever considered turning Karachi into a tourist attraction. "Even they have not thought about Karachi," remarks Hassan.
Many concerned Karachiites even think that various governments have taken the city as a milking cow to collect taxes and revenues.
Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC), Sindh Tourism Development Corporation (STDC), federal government's Department of Archaeology and Museums, Sindh's Culture Department and Karachi City Government have their own priorities for the city, but none relate to develop it for tourism.
For the people of Punjab, NWFP and other parts of Pakistan, the Arabian Sea and its beaches is the only attraction when they visit Karachi. The only other choice for the visitors that this city of 14m offers is mazaar of Quaide Azam, the hallmark of the city. Although a number of parks, historical places, even the National Museum of Pakistan, a big zoo, Safari Park and some other private recreation and picnic points are also available in the city to attract outsiders, people are often disappointed to visit these places because of lack of facilities there.
So the only choice left for a stranger, visiting the city is to go to beaches including Clifton, Sea View, Hawks Bay, Paradise Point and Manora. These fun goers face pollution, lack of facilities and uncontrolled commercial use at these beaches. The recent oil slick from Tasman Spirit oil tanker has further increased the level of pollution at Clifton and Sea View beaches, which have now become more dangerous to even put feet in their waters. Fortunately, other beaches escaped the effects of the worst ever oil spill disaster.
Hardly any quality facility has been provided by any tourism department of the federal or provincial governments at any recreation site of the city. The Defence Housing Authority (DHA) has recently developed some quality parks, but most of them are out of reach for the common people due to lack of transport facilities.
A small information centre of PTCD with outdated information booklets--always complaining of lack of funds--and STDC staff in its main office located at an out-of-reach place in the city provide information brochures on Karachi without offering any facility on the ground to tourists. No tourism promotion programme is offered by these corporations for the city. These departments, however, make every possible effort to send a tourist out of Karachi at their resorts or motels outside the city by handing over many other brochures of their developed tourist sites like Thatta, Keenjhar Lake, Moenjodaro, Lahore, Islamabad, Northern Areas, etc.
"We have planned to construct a motel and a restaurant at the beach near Hawks Bay/Paradise Point. The project, however, has not been initiated due to lack of funds," an official at STDC, Shujat Naqvi tells Kolachi.
Like STDC, he says the PTDC had a similar project to construct a 100-room motel at French Beach at Hawks Bay but it has also failed to bring the plans in a physical shape due to lack of funds.
The only responsibility to develop the recreation facilities in this mega city of the country thus lies on the shoulders of the fledgling City Government, which is also facing a similar problem of lack of funds.
"We have planned to invite the private sector in a number of projects to develop recreation facilities on build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis," says Mohammad Raeesuddin Paracha, executive district officer of City District Government of Karachi (CDGK) for Enterprise and Investment Promotion Department. According to him, progress is in an advance stage to involve private sector to develop Baghe Ibne Qasim at Clifton beach where the selected firms will develop an amusement park on the same pattern as Disneyland. "Three foreign firms, which have been pre-qualified by the city government have been provided terms of reference and they would submit their projects estimates before 30 March 2004," Paracha informs. These firms are Qatar based M/s City Trading and Contracting Company, M UK based M/s Meridian International and US based M/s Marine Animals Production International. "For construction of Disneyland type facility, the city government is offering a 70-acres plot at the main Clifton area."
Paracha informs that CDGK will also offer the private sector to develop Hippodrome, which was initiated by defunct KMC in 1995 at Boating Basin in Clifton for various cultural and recreational activities. But architects and concerned citizens oppose privatisation of both Baghe Ibne Qasim and Hippodrome projects.
"This is a loot, not development," says Hasan, the architect and author, who has written a number of books on Karachi's social and cultural life and architecture. Instead of developing cultural and social aspects of the city, the authorities are only encouraging commercialisation, just to mint money, he says.
"Cities are developed with love, so we have to consider this aspect by developing cultural activities in the city. We do not have a Metropolitan museum. We need to revive our cinema and theatre," Hasan says, adding that the authorities should focus on social aspects.
Besides beaches, Karachi offers a number of other recreation points including parks and historical buildings etc. But with the passage of time, the condition of these facilities has declined and no step has been taken to improve them. For example, the city's Hill Park in PECHS area has always remained an attraction for city people and outsiders for many decades, but due to lack of maintenance its condition has gradually deteriorated. The beautiful lake with swans swimming in it and an artificial fall were the main attraction at the Hill Park. The lake has lost its attraction now as there is stinking water covering the area, thus keeping people away from it.
Besides Hill Park, other places where people can spend their evenings in the city include Safari Park, Gandhi Garden or Zoo, Frere Hall Park, PAF Museum, Maritime Museum, Aziz Bhatti Park, Jheel Park and Boating Basin Park etc. History and archaeology lovers usually prefer to see the anglo-oriental architecture of Frere Hall, Khaliq Dina Hall, Merewether Tower, Flagstaff House or Residency of Quaide Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Wazir Mansion etc.
Many prominent historical buildings like Jinnah Courts at Ziauddin Ahmed Road, which is occupied by Rangers and converted into their Headquarters, and Hindu Gymkhana occupied by Sindh Government's Culture Department are out of reach of the common people. The beautiful stone building of Empress Market is occupied by patharidars and encroachers, and haphazard traffic has almost been made inaccessible to visit. The beautiful Governor's House building, yellowish Sindh Assembly and red stone Sindh High Court building are also not meant for common people or tourists to visit.
Most of Karachiites, like the visitors from other cities, prefer to spend their leisure time at beaches for recreation. On weekend nights, flocks of youth throng to Clifton or Sea View beaches. Those who own their private transports often visit some farther beaches like Sandspit, Hawksbay or Paradise Point on holidays. Yet more well-off with their private or official huts spend weekend nights and holidays at the beaches.
But these beaches are devoid of facilities. One cannot even buy a bottle of drinking water at the beaches. The road, approaching to Hawksbay is in a dilapidated condition for many years and construction of a truck-stand has further added to its miseries. Traffic remains jammed in the area because truck drivers park their vehicles along roadsides instead of inside the stand.
At the beach there are no other recreation facilities except the saline water of the sea. Merry-makers who cannot resist entering the water, often lose their lives in absence of lifeguards, divers and an ambulance service.
For residents of Karachi, the favourite outings are only restaurants or eating joints in different areas of the city, where people throng in the evenings. Many famous names like Bundu Khan's BBQ, Student Biryani, haleem and nihari at Burns Road and Boating Basin in Clifton and barbecue shops in North Nazimabad, Binori Town and Liquatabad or KFC, McDonalds, Pizza Hut restaurant are full in the evenings.
Having an international airport, Karachi has a lot to offer to foreign visitors. They can go for shopping in Saddar to buy carpets, rugs onyx, handcrafts and cotton garments at cheaper rates. But 9/11 and its aftermath have halted the influx of foreigners in Pakistan, especially in Karachi.
The city government has been planning to develop food streets in many parts of the city including Burns Road, Boating Basin and North Nazimabad, but no measure has been taken in this regard so far.
The people have still not forgotten the city's aquarium at Clifton beach, which has been closed for over five years now; and PIA Planetarium, which is non-functional for reasons known to the authorities only. The zoos at Gandhi Garden and Korangi and Safari Part in front of Karachi University lack animals and for many years, the city government has not purchased a new animal.
"We have revived many projects and offered the private sector to invest in them," Paracha claims. "We plan to hand over the Clifton aquarium to the private sector and many parties have shown interest to restart it. We are also offering many city parks to the private sector for development."
Since its inception, the City District Government of Karachi (CDGK) has identified 13 sectors for private sector investment. Development of beaches/creeks, Karachi Coastal Zone, installation of chairlift at Safari Park, introduction of wheeler train at Safari Park, Karachi Light Rail Mass Transit Project, and revitalisation of Karachi Circular Railway are a few of them identified for investment.
Apathy of authorities makes Karachi less attractive for tourists, even though it has its fair share of fascinating sights and sounds
By Shujauddin Qureshi
"Karachi has a lot to offer to tourists, but the authorities have never thought to develop it for the visitors," opines Arif Hassan, a noted architect of the city and chief of Urban Resource Centre, a local non-governmental organisation.
Karachi with a population of over 14m has a lot to offer to the strangers, but no conscious effort has been made to present it as a tourist stopover. A lot of foreign and local tourists often come in the city and they visit shopping centres, beaches, museum and historical buildings, but law and order, dilapidated condition of city roads and lack of transport and other civic facilities make the city less attractive for the tourists.
"We have a rich culture and heritage to offer to tourists, but the authorities have not developed anything to attract them," says Hassan.
Concerned citizens have always demanded preservation of the city's cultural and architectural heritage to attract tourists, but the authorities over the past years have opted to develop schemes keeping commercial aspects in mind.
The city has a rich culture, which is full of colours. Every Thursday hundreds of Makrani youth from Lyari riding on their small donkey-carts go to Clifton beach to take part in donkey-cart racing. A large number of the faithful gather at the mazaar of Abdullah Shah Ghazi every Friday and a festival-like atmosphere is created. Every year, Sheedi Mela at the Manghopir mazaar attracts thousands of faithful from other areas of Sindh and Balochistan.
Mangrove forests in the creeks of Karachi, fishing villages of Rheri, Ibrahim Haideri, Baba and Bhit islands and the famous Empress Market, Bohri Bazar, Zainab Market have the potential of becoming big attractions for the people to visit. But no government organisation meant to promote tourism has ever considered turning Karachi into a tourist attraction. "Even they have not thought about Karachi," remarks Hassan.
Many concerned Karachiites even think that various governments have taken the city as a milking cow to collect taxes and revenues.
Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC), Sindh Tourism Development Corporation (STDC), federal government's Department of Archaeology and Museums, Sindh's Culture Department and Karachi City Government have their own priorities for the city, but none relate to develop it for tourism.
For the people of Punjab, NWFP and other parts of Pakistan, the Arabian Sea and its beaches is the only attraction when they visit Karachi. The only other choice for the visitors that this city of 14m offers is mazaar of Quaide Azam, the hallmark of the city. Although a number of parks, historical places, even the National Museum of Pakistan, a big zoo, Safari Park and some other private recreation and picnic points are also available in the city to attract outsiders, people are often disappointed to visit these places because of lack of facilities there.
So the only choice left for a stranger, visiting the city is to go to beaches including Clifton, Sea View, Hawks Bay, Paradise Point and Manora. These fun goers face pollution, lack of facilities and uncontrolled commercial use at these beaches. The recent oil slick from Tasman Spirit oil tanker has further increased the level of pollution at Clifton and Sea View beaches, which have now become more dangerous to even put feet in their waters. Fortunately, other beaches escaped the effects of the worst ever oil spill disaster.
Hardly any quality facility has been provided by any tourism department of the federal or provincial governments at any recreation site of the city. The Defence Housing Authority (DHA) has recently developed some quality parks, but most of them are out of reach for the common people due to lack of transport facilities.
A small information centre of PTCD with outdated information booklets--always complaining of lack of funds--and STDC staff in its main office located at an out-of-reach place in the city provide information brochures on Karachi without offering any facility on the ground to tourists. No tourism promotion programme is offered by these corporations for the city. These departments, however, make every possible effort to send a tourist out of Karachi at their resorts or motels outside the city by handing over many other brochures of their developed tourist sites like Thatta, Keenjhar Lake, Moenjodaro, Lahore, Islamabad, Northern Areas, etc.
"We have planned to construct a motel and a restaurant at the beach near Hawks Bay/Paradise Point. The project, however, has not been initiated due to lack of funds," an official at STDC, Shujat Naqvi tells Kolachi.
Like STDC, he says the PTDC had a similar project to construct a 100-room motel at French Beach at Hawks Bay but it has also failed to bring the plans in a physical shape due to lack of funds.
The only responsibility to develop the recreation facilities in this mega city of the country thus lies on the shoulders of the fledgling City Government, which is also facing a similar problem of lack of funds.
"We have planned to invite the private sector in a number of projects to develop recreation facilities on build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis," says Mohammad Raeesuddin Paracha, executive district officer of City District Government of Karachi (CDGK) for Enterprise and Investment Promotion Department. According to him, progress is in an advance stage to involve private sector to develop Baghe Ibne Qasim at Clifton beach where the selected firms will develop an amusement park on the same pattern as Disneyland. "Three foreign firms, which have been pre-qualified by the city government have been provided terms of reference and they would submit their projects estimates before 30 March 2004," Paracha informs. These firms are Qatar based M/s City Trading and Contracting Company, M UK based M/s Meridian International and US based M/s Marine Animals Production International. "For construction of Disneyland type facility, the city government is offering a 70-acres plot at the main Clifton area."
Paracha informs that CDGK will also offer the private sector to develop Hippodrome, which was initiated by defunct KMC in 1995 at Boating Basin in Clifton for various cultural and recreational activities. But architects and concerned citizens oppose privatisation of both Baghe Ibne Qasim and Hippodrome projects.
"This is a loot, not development," says Hasan, the architect and author, who has written a number of books on Karachi's social and cultural life and architecture. Instead of developing cultural and social aspects of the city, the authorities are only encouraging commercialisation, just to mint money, he says.
"Cities are developed with love, so we have to consider this aspect by developing cultural activities in the city. We do not have a Metropolitan museum. We need to revive our cinema and theatre," Hasan says, adding that the authorities should focus on social aspects.
Besides beaches, Karachi offers a number of other recreation points including parks and historical buildings etc. But with the passage of time, the condition of these facilities has declined and no step has been taken to improve them. For example, the city's Hill Park in PECHS area has always remained an attraction for city people and outsiders for many decades, but due to lack of maintenance its condition has gradually deteriorated. The beautiful lake with swans swimming in it and an artificial fall were the main attraction at the Hill Park. The lake has lost its attraction now as there is stinking water covering the area, thus keeping people away from it.
Besides Hill Park, other places where people can spend their evenings in the city include Safari Park, Gandhi Garden or Zoo, Frere Hall Park, PAF Museum, Maritime Museum, Aziz Bhatti Park, Jheel Park and Boating Basin Park etc. History and archaeology lovers usually prefer to see the anglo-oriental architecture of Frere Hall, Khaliq Dina Hall, Merewether Tower, Flagstaff House or Residency of Quaide Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Wazir Mansion etc.
Many prominent historical buildings like Jinnah Courts at Ziauddin Ahmed Road, which is occupied by Rangers and converted into their Headquarters, and Hindu Gymkhana occupied by Sindh Government's Culture Department are out of reach of the common people. The beautiful stone building of Empress Market is occupied by patharidars and encroachers, and haphazard traffic has almost been made inaccessible to visit. The beautiful Governor's House building, yellowish Sindh Assembly and red stone Sindh High Court building are also not meant for common people or tourists to visit.
Most of Karachiites, like the visitors from other cities, prefer to spend their leisure time at beaches for recreation. On weekend nights, flocks of youth throng to Clifton or Sea View beaches. Those who own their private transports often visit some farther beaches like Sandspit, Hawksbay or Paradise Point on holidays. Yet more well-off with their private or official huts spend weekend nights and holidays at the beaches.
But these beaches are devoid of facilities. One cannot even buy a bottle of drinking water at the beaches. The road, approaching to Hawksbay is in a dilapidated condition for many years and construction of a truck-stand has further added to its miseries. Traffic remains jammed in the area because truck drivers park their vehicles along roadsides instead of inside the stand.
At the beach there are no other recreation facilities except the saline water of the sea. Merry-makers who cannot resist entering the water, often lose their lives in absence of lifeguards, divers and an ambulance service.
For residents of Karachi, the favourite outings are only restaurants or eating joints in different areas of the city, where people throng in the evenings. Many famous names like Bundu Khan's BBQ, Student Biryani, haleem and nihari at Burns Road and Boating Basin in Clifton and barbecue shops in North Nazimabad, Binori Town and Liquatabad or KFC, McDonalds, Pizza Hut restaurant are full in the evenings.
Having an international airport, Karachi has a lot to offer to foreign visitors. They can go for shopping in Saddar to buy carpets, rugs onyx, handcrafts and cotton garments at cheaper rates. But 9/11 and its aftermath have halted the influx of foreigners in Pakistan, especially in Karachi.
The city government has been planning to develop food streets in many parts of the city including Burns Road, Boating Basin and North Nazimabad, but no measure has been taken in this regard so far.
The people have still not forgotten the city's aquarium at Clifton beach, which has been closed for over five years now; and PIA Planetarium, which is non-functional for reasons known to the authorities only. The zoos at Gandhi Garden and Korangi and Safari Part in front of Karachi University lack animals and for many years, the city government has not purchased a new animal.
"We have revived many projects and offered the private sector to invest in them," Paracha claims. "We plan to hand over the Clifton aquarium to the private sector and many parties have shown interest to restart it. We are also offering many city parks to the private sector for development."
Since its inception, the City District Government of Karachi (CDGK) has identified 13 sectors for private sector investment. Development of beaches/creeks, Karachi Coastal Zone, installation of chairlift at Safari Park, introduction of wheeler train at Safari Park, Karachi Light Rail Mass Transit Project, and revitalisation of Karachi Circular Railway are a few of them identified for investment.
posted by temporal at 11/01/2005
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