Daily Times

Clifton is an upscale and historic seaside locality in Karachi, Pakistan. It is one of the most affluent parts of the city, with some of Karachi’s most expensive real estate. It is home to several foreign consulates, while its commercial centres are amongst the most high-end in Pakistan, with a strong presence of international brands. But other than that, Clifton also houses several slum-like settlements like Delhi Colony, Punjab Colony, Shireen Jinnah Colony.

The area around Clifton was a largely barren seashore until British rule, and was previously known to locals as “Hawa Bandar”. Prior to the establishment of the area as a suburb of Karachi, Clifton’s shoreline had been home to a shrine of 8th century Abdullah Shah Ghazi – widely regarded as the city’s patron saint. The shrine is located immediately adjacent to the historic Sri Ratneswar Mahadev Hindu Temple.

Clifton was initially developed in the late 19th century under British colonial rule, and initially served as the location for homes belonging to the city’s British elite as an escape from the city. In the early 20th century, Parsis began moving to the area, and contributed to its attractivity. The Jehangir Kothari Parade, bestowed to the city by Parsi businessman Seth Jehangir Hormusji Kothari, was built in Clifton in 1919-20. They were soon to be followed by wealthy Hindus. The Mohatta Palace was built in Clifton in 1927 by a wealthy Hindu businessman in the posh seaside locale of Clifton as the summer home of Shivratan Mohatta, a Hindu Marwari businessman from what is now the modern-day Indian state of Rajasthan. After Mohatta’s departure to India, the Government of Pakistan acquired the building to house the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1947.Fatima Jinnah, the sister of the Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, moved into it in 1964. It now serves as a museum.

Cantonments don’t get any financial support from the state and that is why there is an immediate connection between what I pay and what I get for it – or not

The Clifton Cantonment came into existence through bifurcation of Karachi Cantonment in 1980. It covers virtually the whole of DHA, 7 Katchi Abadis located on the periphery and Block -8 & 9 of old KDA Scheme-5. DHA and CBC both are sister organizations & have to work hand in hand to provide quality services to the residents a fact that has been creating trouble over the years.

Clifton is supposed to be a cantonment town within the city of Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. It should actually serve as a military base and a residential establishment for the servicemen of that military base though today it is predominantly inhabited by civilians and only a linear portion towards the North has certain rather small pockets of military setups. It was established by the British Indian Army during 19th century British India, and was taken over by the Pakistan Army in 1947. Based on the Cantonment Act of 1924 it is governed by the Clifton Cantonment Board that consists of 12 nominated members and 12 civil elected members.

The cantonment maintains its own infrastructure of water supply and electricity, and is outside of the jurisdiction of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation. The Cantonment Board Clifton provides municipal services such as (1) Lighting streets and other public places (2) Watering streets and other public places (3) Cleaning street, public places and drains abating nuisances and removing noxious vegetation (4) Regulating offensive, dangerous or obnoxious trades calling and practices (5) Removing on ground of public safety, health and convenience, undesirable obstructions and projections in street and other public places (6) Securing or removing dangerous building and places (7) Acquiring, maintaining, changing and regulating places for the disposal of the dead (8) Constructing, altering and maintaining streets, culverts, markets, slaughter houses, latrines, privies, urinals, drainage works and sewerage work (9) Planting and maintaining trees on roadsides and other public places (10) Providing or arranging for a sufficient supply of pure and wholesome water, where such supply does not exist, guarding from polluted water used for human consumption and preventing polluted water from being so used (11) Registering births and deaths (12) Rendering assistance in extinguishing fires and protecting life and properties when fire occurs (13) Maintaining and developing the value of property vested in or entrusted to the management of the board; and (14) Fulfilling any other obligations imposed upon it by or under this act or any other law for the time being enforce.

While DHA that is to be maintained by the CBC still is a posh area with prices for plots sky-rocketing the recent monsoon drowned much of it and was a pointer towards the weaknesses that over the years have accumulated in the management. Other problems connected to the overall problems of running Karachi became visible in 2002 when local bodies should have been introduced and it became clear that local government can only function city-wide when all the city area comes under its jurisdiction. But with the cantonments out of the control of the Karachi Municipal Corporation many projects hit snags and the viability of the cantonment model in modern time was questioned.

Despite all these pending problems there is some light at the end of the tunnel, at least for DHA and CBC. Three months ago a new administrator has joined the CBC. Muhammad Saleem Hassan Wattoo (Tamgha-e Imtiaz) has a BSC in Civil Engineering and an MBA in tax management from IBA Karachi. With his substantial support a new webpage of the CBC has been launched that will surely be effectively help to make the work of the CBC more transparent and give all interested citizens an insight into the tax and fee calculation of the CBC. An e-billing button allows the residents to pay their bills electronically and even calculate themselves how much one has to pay. The fee structure has been made public as well as the Board proceedings and the annual accounts of receipts and expenditures of the CBC. That would make it much more difficult to overcharge or to demand bribes from residents. But on the other hand, it also shows vividly that CBC can only spend what it earns in form of taxes and fees. Cantonments don’t get any financial support from the state and that is why there is an immediate connection between what I pay and what I get for it – or not. With the new webpage the ‘activists’ who were shouting slogans against the CBC have now a prime instrument at hand that allows them instead of shouting and abusing to go into the actual working of the CBC and bring their critique and proposals for improvement to the knowledge of the CBC. The page has several options to launch complaints and get in touch with CBC without having to phone, write letters or visit the offices which is anyway not a good option in times of Covid-19.

At the end of the day one might also think about the matter of keeping a cantonment for mainly civilians only. The Cantonment Act that says the Federal Government can declare any area a cantonment by notification also says that the Federal Government may declare by a notification in the official Gazette that any cantonment ceases to be a cantonment!

(Retired from South Asia Department Humboldt University, Berlin, Dr Bettina Robotka is the Editor of the Defence Journal and a Consultant to Pathfinder Group)