KARACHI: Hill Park Karachi encroachment dates back to the early sixties. It is a sixty-two acre hilly land in the PECHS area, one of the oldest planned housing sectors of the metropolis of Karachi. Its paths have been frequented by generations of citizens of Karachi who used it for recreation purposes and took their children there every Saturday morning. It is undoubtedly one of the most precious public assets of the city. But somewhere around May 18, 2026, machines came to work in the park and one of the documents supporting this venture was later proved by KMC to be fake.
As per Sunday’s statement from Mayor Murtaza Wahab, construction in the vicinity of Hill Park Karachi encroachment has been stopped due to an objection raised by him one week before Eid ul Azha. According to the report released by KMC during the investigation carried out after the complaint was raised, there have been several anomalies found in relation to the documents which not only concern the matter of stoppage of the construction but much more than that.
Fabricated Letter and the Misunderstood NOC
KMC has stated that the DL/KMC/232/2026 Letter, which was used to support their claim regarding construction activities at the site, is a fabricated document and holds no legal value. The civic body’s Land Director issued a second official letter dated May 25, 2026 – the letter can be viewed in Dawn – clearly denying any allegation made about KMC granting any type of permission, certificate, or construction license over the property of Hill Park.
In other words: a document which said one thing was altered to say something else and this alteration was used to get construction machinery to the fence line of one of the oldest open parks of Karachi. The KMC has suggested that criminal cases be registered against those responsible for this act.
Plot 39-G4: The Location in Question
However, plot 39-G4 was stated to be the actual location which was the center of the entire conflict, according to Farooq Sattar, who addressed a news conference organized by MQM-P on Sunday. According to Mr. Sattar, “there used to be a wall built for plot 39-3G, which adjoins plot 39-G4, but as there was no master plan available for this plot, nothing happened.”This leads to the conclusion that an individual who was aware of the arrangement of these plots and the restrictions involved must have tried to take advantage of the ambiguity of boundaries at plot 39-G4.
As an addendum, Sattar cited the case of a High Court directive, according to which construction on the hills in the region cannot be used for any commercial or residential construction activities. In case the above-mentioned directive does exist as alleged by the respondent, then it means that the construction was against not only the municipal law of KMC and PECHS master plan, but also the high court’s directive.
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Mayor Wahab’s Reactions and Their Limitations
The response of Mayor Wahab to this event should be critically evaluated. He responded to the complaint made by the public, took instant measures, demolished the house if the land belonged to KMC, and explicitly denied the allotment and authorization of such allotment by KMC. Moreover, the formal letter written on May 25 to police regarding filing charges, along with the request to confirm the formal ownership of the plot by PECHS, were proper institutional steps.
Not addressed by the response from the mayor, but something that must be considered during the course of this investigation, is who made up the letter, how it was done, and if there was any involvement on behalf of someone within the organization. A document such as this one that has a reference number to the KMC cannot just appear out of thin air. This means that either someone made the document completely on their own using insider information or it came from within the organization itself.
Demands of MQM-P and the Political Element Involved
The reaction of MQM-P to the Hill Park case is based on two grounds at once. On the civic side, the demands put forward by the party in the case, i.e., an investigation by the Sindh government, suspension of those officials who were responsible for what happened and investigation of the issuance of the NOC, are, per se, reasonable despite the element of politics behind them. Politically speaking, MQM-P is a federal coalition partner, which is trying to pressurize the Sindh government headed by the PPP by raising the issue of the use of lands in Karachi.
This is a possible case where both can exist at once. The civic obligations should be judged in their own right neither overlooked just because they are coming from an opposition politician to the provincial government nor believed blindly just because they pertain to a real public interest issue. “Focus Pakistan” reports that Sattar’s tenure as mayor from 1988-1992 that he referred to on Sunday predates the peak of Karachi’s land-grabbing crisis.
Both can be true at the same time. The civic calls must be judged on their own merits without rejecting them for being raised by an opponent of the provincial government or accepting them simply because they deal with something of interest to the public good. Focus Pakistan points out that while the mayoral tenure of Sattar between 1988 and 1992, which he had mentioned in his speech on Sunday, falls short of being a standard for today’s accountability.
The fact that it takes a public protest, a visit from the mayor, and an official letter from the police for Hill Park to end construction works near its border by 2026 – six years after Supreme Court orders for clearance – implies that the measures taken after 2019 have not been enough to prevent future attempts at the same thing. Indeed, in November 2021, 15,000 tree seedlings were planted in Hill Park as part of a green project. The trees now stand where an inquiry is still underway about those who attempted construction around them.
Steps That Should Take Place
At this stage, it is necessary for the KMC investigation to address three precise queries that cannot be answered by simply stopping construction. First of all, who wrote Letter DL/KMC/232/2026 and how was it assigned a reference number at KMC? Secondly, who applied for and obtained the April 30 Conditional NOC, and for what reason? Lastly, who within KMC, PECHS Society, or some other organization reviewed or processed documents associated with Plot 39-G4 before work commenced?
With these questions unanswered, the Hill Park encroachment case takes the same path as all past attempts to encroach on the park’s property: stop, investigate, file a report, and then forget about it until another attempt is made. Karachi’s 62 acres of parkland in PECHS merits better than this, but then again, so do the citizens of Karachi, who brought the matter to light.
