The number of small and big parks in the city of Karachi is around 1600, while the number of big parks is two dozen, out of which some model parks were also built, the condition of which is not good anymore. Dozens of parks in the city were seized due to the negligence of the Karachi Municipality. The land mafia had built residences and even wedding halls on the site of these parks, while the provincial and local governments remained silent spectators. Based on the public complaints, the restoration of these parks was started under the court order and at the same time, the encroachments from the sides of the parks were also started to be removed for their restoration.
One of these parks is Jahangir Park, which was deserted for a long time, now the stage of its restoration has been completed under the court order, now only its inauguration remains. The Sindh government started the reconstruction work of Jahangir Park covering an area of ​​five acres in March 2017 and it was completed at the end of August. Due to which the inauguration could not take place within the stipulated period, later the project was completed, the inauguration is delayed due to the busy schedule of the Sindh Chief Minister and the people are deprived of going to this historic Jahangir Park.
It should be noted that Jahangir Park has been constructed in a world-class manner at a cost of 20 crore rupees, 17 dinosaur statues have been installed in the park, a special bird aviary has been made for birds, in which peacocks and other birds are kept.
MP theater, library, jogging track and other facilities are also provided in the park. Special attention has been given to preserve the boundary wall and its historical status on all four sides of the park. In this park, no trees have been cut, including one hundred year old trees. Apart from this, the 100-year-old infrastructure in Empress Market and its surroundings has been replaced at a cost of Rs 95 crore, of which Rs 20 crore is included in the reconstruction of the historic Jahangir Park.
In the vicinity of Empress Market including Main Flood Street, Mir Akram Ali Road, Priddy Street to Sarwar Shaheed Road, Raja Ghazanfar Ali Road, Dawood Putha Road, Sarwar Shaheed Road and all surrounding roads, installation of water, sewage lines and rainwater harvesting. The canal has been constructed, now these roads have been resurfaced in a modern way.
Jahangir Park is one of the ancient and historical parks of Karachi. This park has been established since the 1950s and in the 50s, the Muharram assembly was held in this park, later this assembly was organized in Nishtar Park. The importance of this park increases due to the fact that it is located in the center of the city of Karachi. Citizens who come to the Saddar Empress Market for shopping from all over the city used to visit this park and spend time in this park. The government did not pay any attention to the renovation of this park, due to which this park became dilapidated, there were no facilities for the citizens. With the passage of time, this ancient and historical Jahangir Park of Karachi turned into a garbage dump, garbage from different areas would be dumped in the park and then set on fire, nomads had also camped in the park and the entire park was destroyed. Beds of nomads were seen everywhere.
The park was completely dilapidated and the grass also disappeared and sand kept flying in the park. Jahangir Park has also been used for negative activities. Criminals and drug addicts were seen in this park. Solid encroachments were established within the park. For the restoration of Jahangir Park, various citizens filed petitions in the Sindh High Court and under the court order, the Nazim’s office, residential quarters and other constructions in this historic Jahangir Park were renovated and the encroachments were removed.
Agha Syed Attaullah Shah of the non-governmental organization Rah Rast Trust, in the court petition, stated that the KMC had issued licenses for cabins and other encroachments on the park land in 1976 while the nazim’s office as well as government employees were in the park premises. Quarters have also been constructed for In the petition filed by Maulana Asghar Dars, it was said that Jahangir Park is of historical importance but has been in a state of disrepair due to the government’s neglect for many years.
The anti-encroachment department of Karachi Municipality completely demolished five residential houses built in Jahangir Park Saddar while implementing the orders of the Sindh High Court. The MC employees living in Jahangir Park were arranged for alternative accommodation at Korangi No. 4 before being shifted here. After demolishing the encroachments, the debris remained in the park for a long time, and the citizens had to approach the Sindh High Court to remove it, thus the court also issued orders to remove the debris.
On January 19, 2015, on the order of the court, the Municipal Corporation of Karachi removed the encroachments from within the Jahangir Park, but after that a series of encroachments started to be re-established in the park, which were then removed. Meanwhile, the citizens of Karachi demanded from the government to pay attention to the condition of the city’s parks, to provide facilities in the parks, to make the parks free from criminals and drug addicts, and to ban littering in the parks. should be imposed, the parks should not be kept open 24 hours, the parks should be opened only at certain times and nomads should not be allowed to enter the parks. Later, the Sindh government stopped encroachment from Jahangir Park and stopped the movement of undesirable people by establishing a wall.
Finally, it is suggested that Jahangir Park should be given the status of a family park so that families shopping in Saddar Bazaar can have a safe place to rest for some time.