KARACHI

LAND & MANAGEMENT

-A BRIEF-
UNDERSTANDING KARACHI WITH HOUSING FINANCE PERSPECTIVE
BY
ADNAN ADIL HUSSAIN
 SOME FACTS ABOUT KARACHI
• 71.32% live on les than 100 square yard plots
• 24.27% live on 100 – 120 square yard plots
• 3 % live on 120 – 240 square yard plot
• 1.47% above 240 square yard plots
- One room house: 451,700 units.
- Without piped water: 373,360 units.
- Without electricity: 90,450.
- Katcha houses: 62,900.

• Housing demand : 120,000 per year

• Formal sector housing supply : 42,000 per year
(Average over last 5 years)
• Accommodated in katchi abadis : 32,000 per year
• Rest accommodated through densification of existing settlements.
• The issue of densification and its societal repercussions.
• This was when we had a population of 22 million.
 SOME FACTS ABOUT KARACHI
Distribution of different types of land use in urbanized areas of Karachi and the KSDP- (Source: Karachi
Strategic Development Plan 2020: CDGK – 2007)
 GENERAL INFO ABOUT LAND RIGHTS
• Karachi has about 15 authorities that control and manage land, and administered through
6 Cantonments and 18 towns under 5 Districts.
• The land rights are registered with the Sub-Registrar of respective Towns.
• According to the law, the origin of landownership rests with the provincial
government of Sindh, which exercises this right through its Board of Revenue (BoR).
• The BoR is authorised to manage land records and keep details of transactions with
public and private agencies and the status of land until transactions are completed. It also
manages the records of land and properties held by private owners and public agencies
as a result of transactions made before Pakistan came into being in 1947.
• BoR leases land parcels to authorities, organisations and societies for approved land
uses, which should ideally be in line with the Master Plan for the town or settlement.
• The status and duration of leasehold ownership is normally governed by the type of land
use. Leases for agricultural use are short-term (lasting 1-5 years), medium-term for agro-
based industry such as poultry or dairy farms (10-33 years), and long term for residential,
commercial, industrial and amenity uses (usually 99 years).
AUTHORITIES HOLDING LAND RIGHTS IN
KARACHI
 ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROLS
Karachi South District Malir District
Lyari Town Malir Town
Saddar Town Bin Qasim Town
Karachi East District Gadap Town
Jamshed Town Korangi District
Gulshan Town Korangi Town
Karachi Central District Landhi Town
Liaquatabad Town Shah Faisal Town
North Nazimabad Town Cantonments
Gulberg Town A. Karachi Cantonment
New Karachi Town B. Clifton Cantonment
Karachi West District C. Korangi Creek Cantonment
Kemari Town D. Faisal Cantonment
SITE Town E. Malir Cantonment
Baldia Town F. Manora Cantonment
Orangi Town  
 DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITIES IN KARACHI
• In 1950, Karachi Improvement Trust was created, to approve "Housing Schemes" and to
formulate "Town expansion schemes".
• In 1957, KDA was established through the merger of KIT, Karachi Joint Water Board, and
Rehabilitation Department of the Government of Pakistan, Architect Control Department of
KMC was added to oversee the building activity in the entire city.
• In 1962, the Architect Control Department for the Municipal Areas was transferred to KMC.
• In 1974, Building Control for some of the KDA Schemes such as North Nazimabad, scheme-
2, and F.B. Area was handed over to KMC.
• In 1979, Karachi Building Control Authority was created under Sindh Building Control
Ordinance 1979 and both KDA and KMC areas were brought under the jurisdiction of KBCA.
• In October, 1991, the KBCA was again bifurcated into two factions i.e. KBCA(KDA) and
KBCA(KMC).
• In April, 1996, KBCA(KDA) and KBCA(KMC) were re-unified. Director General, KDA was
notified as its Chief Executive. KBCA has its jurisdiction over entire Karachi Division
excluding Cantonment Areas and SITE.
 DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITIES IN KARACHI
• Before the promulgation of SBCO in 1979, the functions relating to building &
town planning activities in Karachi were assigned to different agencies, in different
times. In the absence of any Rules & Regulations to regulate the sale of units by the
builders/developers to the general public, many incidents of fraudulent bookings by
the fake companies were reported in the 70s. The crises increased further due to
shortage of required numbers of technical professionals in the agencies.
•  Therefore in the year 1979, the Govt. of Sindh promulgated Sindh Building
Control Ordinance and SBCA was established. In the SBCO 79, provisions were
made to regulate the building activities as well as sale of units to the general public
through the licensed professionals.
• The spirit behind the creation was to:
1. Ensure the stability of structures.
2. Keep quality control in the construction activities.
3. Regulate the building and town planning Regulations
4. Safeguard the interest of general public
 DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITIES IN KARACHI

• The government of Sindh was pleased to notify extension of the

jurisdiction of Karachi Building Control Authority to the whole of
Sindh and renaming the Karachi Building Control Authority to Sindh
Building Control Authority on 14th Feb 2011.
•  The five Regions of Sindh Building Control Authority notified by the
Government of Sindh are: Karachi, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Sukkur &
Larkana, having the Head Quarter Karachi.
 SO HOW DOES IT WORK-
DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITIES
• As per law, a Development authority can also “own” the land and is responsible for
maintaining development
• SBCA is the regulator of all development authorities and its Regulations 2002 rule the
framework of development.
• Most of the land in Clifton Cantonment is managed by Defence Housing Authority itself
and it does not follow SBCA regulations.
• Area under Malir Town, Gadap Town and Bin Qasim Town is managed by Malir
Development Authority (MDA).
• Area under Lyari Town is handled by Lyari Development Authority (LDA)
• Under KBCA (now SBCA) regulations, the LDA and MDA were responsible for their
planning and development under the grand supervision of SBCA.
• Rest of all Towns in Karachi are managed by KDA.
 INSTITUTIONS EMPOWERED TO IMPLEMENT THE
BUILDING LAWS

Karachi Development Authority:

• Prepares Karachi’s master/strategic development plans and oversees its implementation
• Land-use and environmental control, housing, transport planning and support to other planning
agencies in Karachi
Sindh Building Control Authority:
• Its function is to monitor development and construction activities in Karachi, and implement byelaws
and zoning regulations
• It is also tasked to support the heritage committees in supporting their work by monitoring heritage
buildings and approving / rejecting building plans submitted by heritage owners after heritage related
approval by the Heritage Committee
The Sindh Building Control Ordinance, 1979
• deals with building and town planning issues for the whole of Sindh including Karachi.
• Under the Law, a Karachi Building Control Authority was established which was upgraded to the
Sindh Building Control Authority to encompass the entire province
 SOME OTHER RELEVANT ACTS FOR BUILDING
CONTROL
The Sindh High Density Board Act, 2014:
• Under this Act a Board is established which can declare any area, road or plot high density thus increasing its FAR without
any urban design exercise having taken place
• As a result, there are approximately 120 buildings of between 20-50 floors under construction, many in the heritage areas
The Sindh Special Development Board Act, 2014:
• Under this Act, the government can demolish any katchi abadi that it identifies and build high-rise apartments on it for the
house owners thus freeing more than half of the settlement.
• The freed land can be used by a developer for middle income housing. This land is given to him free of cost
• There are a number of katchi abadis in the heritage zones
The Sindh Cultural Heritage Preservation Act, 1994:
• Once declared heritage the owner is to enter into an agreement with the relevant government department to maintain the
building and/or site and prevent its destruction and order the owner to carry out necessary preservation measures at his own
cost
• If the owner refuses, the Committee can take appropriate measures and/or to carry out the work at the owner’s expense or
take legal action against him/her in a court of law
• The government has the first right to acquire protected heritage in case of its sale at market value
 TYPES OF RIGHTS IN KARACHI
LEASE
• Leasehold rights granted by individual person having freehold rights
• Leasehold rights by Development/ Housing Authority
• Leasehold rights by State Institutions
• Leasehold rights granted by Board of Revenue (generally for Agri or Agro Industry till 33 years)
• Leasehold rights by Industrial Estates (SITE, EPZ, Bin Qasim Industrial Area, Super Highway Industrial Estate)
ALLOTMENT
• Allotment by Cooperative Society
• Allotment by Kachi Abadi/ Goth abad Scheme
• Allotment by Industrial Estates/ Shipping Authority (SITE, EPZ, Bin Qasim Industrial Area, Super Highway
Industrial Estate) Gadani Shipyard.
FREE HOLD
• Agricultural lands having Form VII
• State Land where free hold was allotted by way of Grant (Kabuli Land)
• Small cities Urban Land with Form II & Sanad
• Converted from Agricultural to Urban after DDO/ DCO order and Form II is issued
CONVERSION OF LAND FROM AGRICULTURAL TO URBAN

• One of the five districts of Karachi named Malir was rural, consisting of
goths (villages) and their pasturelands.
• This subsequently became part of three of the new towns created under
the Sindh Local Government Ordinance 2001 (SLGO) (Gadap,
Keamari and Bin Qasim), opening up a large, previously rural area
to urban development.
• The SLGO was suspended in 2009 and the old five-district system was
reinstated. However, the once rural district did not revert to its former
status, and villages are now being transformed into urban settlements
through the Goth abad Scheme.
• Chances of irregular documentary base are there in areas being
converted into Urban from Agricultural.
 URBANIZATION LAWS
• As per various studies more than 50 % of Karachi population lives in
Kachi Abadis.
• Mostly area od Malir and Lyari fall under this, however the recent past
has seen expanding frontiers on Sohrab Goth, Nia Nazim abad,
Northern Bypass as well.
• Following laws mostly apply on conversion of land from Agriculture
to Urban
• Sindh Kachi Abadi Act 1987
• The Sindh Goth Abad (Housing Scheme Act) 1987
• Colonization of Government Lands Act 1912 with BOR notifications
 KACHI ABADI ACT 1987
GRANT OF LEASE

• The Authority under this act has the power to

• identify the Kachi Abadis or area thereof which may be developed, improved or
regularized and
• identify those kachi abadi and areas which cannot be regularized.
• Acquire, hold and manage immoveable property
• Prepare and execute scheme or cause it to be prepared and executed.
• Rehabilitation of existing Kachi Abadi
• Arrange Civic amenities
• Terms and Conditions of Lease, period, procedure and transfer of leasehold rights
• Removal of encroachment
• As per Section 33, can take over control and management of any Kachi Abadi
• As per Section 35, it can issue notification ceasing the powers of KDA or
SBCA in a specific Kachi Abadi Scheme
PROCEDURE OF REGULARIZATION OF KACHI ABADI
• Reconnaissance survey and confirmation of ownership

• Physical survey and occupancy survey

• NOC and joint demarcation with land owning agency

• Transfer of land to lease issuing department 

• Preparation of amelioration plan and its approval with close community

participation

• Grant of ownership rights and recovery of lease money

• Development (area Up-gradation by provision of physical and social infrastructure)

• “Low-cost Housing Scheme means a housing scheme sponsored by
the Government of Sindh or Sindh Katchi Abadis Authority for
providing plots ranging 80 to 120 sq. yards to shelter-less persons for
housing purposes either within boundaries of a notified katchi abadi
or on the land purchased/acquired by the SKAA.
 SKAA Low-Cost Housing Scheme Regulations 2008
• No plot shall be disposed off except in accordance with provision of these
regulations
• 23. Residential plots in all Low-cost Housing Schemes of the Authority shall
be reserved for shelter-less people of the province.
• 24. Size of residential plot shall be 80 to 120 sq. yards.
• The Authority shall have the right to cancel the occupancy rights of those
applicants;
• a) who fail to raise any construction on the plot within 90 days of taking
over the physical possession
• b) who defaults in make payments for three months
• c) who sublet the allotted plot to any other person
• d) who obtain plot by submitting any forged / fictitious document
• The 99 years lease rights shall be granted by Authority against the
allotted plots to such allotees;
• a) who have cleared all dues including cost of land and development
charges
• b) who has constructed the house on the allocated plot
• c) who has started residing thereon
• who has made payment of lease execution charges etc
• No commercial use of the plot shall be allowed which causes hazards to
• the life and environments.
• (ii) The plot shall not be Bifurcated, sub–leased, sub–divided or amalgamated without prior approval of the Authority and
subject to such terms and payments fixed by the Authority.
• (iii) The said plot of land and the structure standing thereon shall be subject to
• all taxes, rates and charges at the time in force.
• (iv) Every transfer of lease rights by the lessee in any manner shall be subject
• to the clearance of all outstanding dues including improvement charges in
• addition to all fees, rents, levies, taxes, whatsoever including the unpaid installments of improvement/lease money etc, if
any, payable to the
• Authority at that time.
• (v) On the expiry of the period of the lease, the lessors at its discretion shall
• renew the lease (s), under prevailing rules / regulations.
• (vi) Field Director will issue NOC to the agencies concerned for provision of
• basic service (s) after observing codal formalities
 THE SIND GOTH ABAD (HOUSING SCHEME) ACT 1987
GRANT OF ALLOTMENT

• It shall apply to all the Dehs in the province which are declared by Government to be the “rural
areas” for the purpose of this act.
• “Allotee” means the deserving person who has been allotted land under this Act and deserving
person” means a person residing in the area notified by the Government as rural areas who is in
genuine need of residential accommodation in a village.
• “Grant” means the grant of the proprietary rights in land.
• The Authority may allot not exceeding two Ghuntas (242 Sq Yards) for construction of a house
to a deserving person in the Dehs in which he ordinarily resides free of cost in such manner and
on such terms and conditions as may be prescribed.
• However this limit will not apply to Asaish (land adjacent to a village and reserved for grazing
and other common use of the village community) where he has”already” constructed his house.
• The proprietary rights in respect of the land allotted under section 3 shall be conferred on the
allotee by a grant in the form and in the manner and on the terms and conditions as may be
prescribed
• The Grant of Allotment can be cancelled subject to breach of certain conditions.
 Sindh Gothabad (Housing Scheme) Rules, 2008

• The open state land shall be allotted under the Act in the shape of plots and not exceeding two ghuntas with
separate numbers:

• Provided that the aforesaid limit shall not apply to the land or Asaish whereupon a deserving person has built
a house before the coming into force of the Act with a view to make up permanent residence in the existing
villages.

• A deed of conveyance conferring proprietary rights shall then be executed, stamped and registered at the
cost of allottee which shall be termed as land grant document. On the basis of this deed an entry shall be
made in Village Form-II.
• Allottee of an open plot shall construct the House within period of three years from the date of issuance
of Sanad:
• Provided that the period of three years may from time to time be extended by the District Officer (Revenue).
• (3) The plot shall be non-transferable for a period of ten years and the allotment and grant shall be
deemed to be held on restricted tenure and right title and interest of Grantee shall not be transferred
or changed by any sale, gift, sub-lease or otherwise except the foti khata badal in favour of legal
heirs of deceased Grantee, with the prior permission of the District Officer (Revenue) of the
concerned strict or on attachment by the Bank or Financial Institution for the recovery of the loan:
• Provided that the Grantee may mortgage his lot or house, as the case may be, for obtaining loan
from the House Building Finance Corporation or any Bank or Financial Institution.
• No amalgamation of plot shall be permitted without prior permission of the Competent Authority.
• (5) The Grantee shall not remove Sands, Murmar, Bajri, Stones or any mineral from the area under
the allotment or grant, as the case may be.
• 7. Documents.- (1) The following documents shall be prepared and treated as part of the record of Sindh Gothabad and the record of rights
under section 39(d) of the Sindh Land Revenue Act, 1967:-

• (a) “Survey Register” in the prescribed form attached herewith as appendix-1, which shall be prepare for each village on the site indicating
the number of plots and houses, boundaries and area there-under and each entry shall be duly authenticated by the Mukhtiarkar Gothabad.

• (b) “Map” shall be prepared for the village on farrow print papers, indicating the number of houses or plots in each village duly verified by
the Mukhtiarkar Gothabad, including the streets and amenities on a prescribed scale.

• (c) “Village Form-II” shall be prepared by the Tapedar by filing all relevant columns with signature on each entry which shall be verified by
the Supervising Tapedar and authenticated by the Mukhtiarkar Gothabad and the Deputy District Officer (Revenue).

• (d) All Grantee shall execute a separate agreement with regards to terms and conditions of allotment or grant in the prescribed form in
Appendix-II:

• Provided that the Registrar i.e. Survey Register and Village Form-II shall be given proper page numbers and office stamp, followed by a
certificate of the Mukhtiarkar Gothabad on the last page of each register showing the total number of houses or plots, total number of
amenity plots, alongwith area under possession.
 IMPACT OF GOTH ABAD SCHEME
• According to records maintained by the Provincial Assembly of Sindh,
a survey of villages in and around Karachi conducted in 1989-1990
recorded 808 villages. Some 458 of these villages were regularized,
with ownership titles issued by various government agencies to 51,421
individual households or clans.
• Since 2002 to 2013, 2,173 villages were regularized and converted to
Urban. It is not clear how many are genuine rural areas used for
agricultural purposes, and how many have been informally created and
promoted in order to benefit from the current regularization scheme.
 THE COLONIZATION OF GOVERNMENT LANDS ACT, 1912
(GRANT OF TENANCY THROUGH PREPUTIAL RIGHTS- FREEHOLD)

• This Act was adopted to make better provision for the colonization and administration of
Government lands in Sind. These lands were colonies around villages where settlements were
made for the convenience of villages. The occupants were called tenants till complete payment
in case of purchase from government, as this type of land was given upon certain conditions eg;
not to sow rice on land in certain area or
• The Board of Revenue subject to the general approval of the Government may grant land in a
colony to any person on such conditions as it thinks fit.
• The grant of any tenancy under this Act shall be deemed to be transfer of a land within the
meaning of the Government Grants Act, 1895 which states that Transfer of Property Act 1882
does not apply on grants by Government and Government can grant any right for any tenure.
• Transfer of rights through mortgage, gift, sale are void without the permission of BOR.
Succession of land is allowed.
• As per BOR notifications of 1980, only for Kabuli Land the transfer of rights are allowed
without the permission of BOR. Kabuli lands are allotted under this act for specific purposes.
However later after partitioning in especially after 1980 BOR notification the use of Kabuli land
was opened for any purpose.
 PROPERTIES OF KDA
• KDA became responsible for land developments while KMC was put in charge of
maintaining developed land in urban areas of the city.
• Land was subsequently transferred from the BoR to KDA for development purposes.
KDA acquired land from BoR in limited sections, and that the four initial schemes
accounted for less than 100 hectares of land. Land allocations increased in the 1960s
as the demand for land grew
• KDA now have the lion’s share of land in the city and a mandate to develop any land
that was transferred to it, but not land possessed by federal agencies such as the
cantonments, railways and KPT, or provincial land already owned or utilised by the
government and its agencies.
• Following devolution and the ordinance of 2001, KDA was merged into City District
Government Karachi (CDGK) which became the development and maintenance
authority for Karachi, acting in parallel with other landowning stakeholders
PROPERTIES OF KDA
 PRECAUTIONS FOR DOCUMENTATION
• For KDA schemes the allotment of leasehold rights are made and then a sale
(conveyance) deed is executed.
• Many private housing schemes are prepared in KDA schemes having rights of
leasehold.
• For MDA and LDA related properties care has to be exercised whether the
land has been duly converted into urban through requirements mentioned in
Goth Abad Act.
• For regularized Kachi Abadis in any of the Town of Karachi, care has to be
exercised if the land is duly regularized as per procedure.
• In case the land was held as Freehold/absolute ownership (Form VII) the legal
conversion into Form II has to be verified. In case an Individual or Builder
grants private leasehold rights, they cannot be transferred by way of
inheritance unless succession clause is mentioned therein.
 DOCUMENTS USED IN KARACHI
Title Documents
A. Free hold properties (Rural Areas): D. Cooperative Housing Society/ Industrial
1. Ownership Certificate duly issued by the Taluka Estates:
Mukhtiarkar or Sanad (L-20) 1. Allotment letter
2. Deh Form-VII/Mutation 2. Share Certificate
3. Deh Form-II /Mutation 3. Lease Deed
4. Aks Shajra/site plan 4. Extract of the Property
B. Free Hold Property (Urban Areas): OTHER DOCUMENTS
5. P.T.O./P.T.D/Sale Deed/Gift Deed 1. N.E.C. (Search Certificate) from the date of
6. City Survey Extract/Deh Form-II (Mutation) execution of lease deed
7. Statement issued by the Legal Heirs along with copy 2. Approved Building Plan with approval
of statement from City Survey in cases of inheritence letter from SBCA
C. Lease Hold Property: 3. Approved Site/lay out Plan from
8. Lease Deed/Sub-Lease Deed/Sale Deed/Gift Deed KDA/MDA/LDA
9. Deh Form-II (Mutation) (in case of Gothabad scheme 4. Clearance Certificate from MEO (in case of
MDA/LDA) Cantt)
10. Allotment order in case of Gothabad schems, Katchi 5. Approved Building plan from MEO/DHA
Abadi schemes in case of Cantt/ DHA Properties
D. Cantonment Areas: 6. Permission to Mortgage/Sale ( in lease or in
1. Lease Deed allotment where first document does not
2. Extract of the Property grant right)
3. Search Certificate
VILLAGE FORM II
(Used for Agricultural Lands Converted into Urban/ or Urban Lands in small cities or Towns)
KARACHI KDA-FORM 2
VILLAGE FORM VII
 SINDH-VILLAGE FORM VIII-A
(Used to verify exact holding of owner as being reflected in Form VII of Agricultural Land)
`MUTATION PROCESS-AGRICULTURAL LANDS

ROAZNAMCHA
WAQIATI
IN SINDH
VILLAGE FORM XI
DOCUMENT REGISTER DAKHIL
NARRATING KARIJ
TRANSFER OF ( MUTATION
INTEREST( SALE REGISTER)
DEED/
MORTGAGE IN SINDH (FORM
DEED ) VIII A & B)

ABSTRACT
FROM KACHERI
RAGISTER
HAQDARAN (JALSA-E-AAM)
ZAMEEEN

RECORDS OF
RIGHTS
REGISTER
HAQDARAN -E-
ZAMEEN
MEMO OF MUTATION-SINDH
 SHAMLAT & ASAISH
• Shamlat is the concept available in Punjab, Federal
Capital and part of KPK whereas in Sindh and part of
Baluchistan the‫ ئ‬term used for simmiliar type of use is
“ASAISH”‫آسا ی ش‬
• Section 2 (1) (c) of The Sind Goth Abad (Housing
Scheme) Act 1987 states, “Asaish” means the land
adjacent to a village and reserved for grazing and other
common use of the village community;
SINDH LAND REVENUE RULES 1968
Sindh-Forms
Sindh-Forms