Livelihood Substitution: The Case of the Lyari Expressway

D. Livelihood Substitution

8. Was it a Possibility in the Lyari Case

Livelihood substitution was certainly a possibility in the Lyari case. The process that should have been adopted is described in item 7 above and that in itself would have helped people in continuing with their economic activity to a great extent. However, what has been described in section 7 requires a very different mindset from what exists among the politicians, bureaucrats and professionals in Pakistan. It requires

• A respect for lower income communities and a sympathetic understanding of why they live in un-authorised settlements.
• Freedom from fear of low income communities. Because of this fear these communities are treated with suspicion and hostility and as a result an equitable dialogue cannot be established with them.
• Professionals who plan the project are not trained to dealing with socio-economic issues or in innovating new approaches to existing settlements. They only know how to plan new settlements and not to upgrade or relocate them.
• Projects to be a part of a city plan. In the absence of such a plan that takes into consideration major socio-economic issues, projects can often be inappropriate for the city and especially for its less politically powerful communities.
• A more transparent and democratic political system than what exists in Pakistan today.

9. A Commercial Development Plan

One cannot say for sure that what is being proposed below is workable in the case of a massive resettlement project such as the Lyari case. However, the establishment of a small scale industrial and commercial zone that generates employment could have been a part of the Lyari Resettlement Plan. The nature of commercial and industrial investment could have been related to the jobs and skills possessed by the affectees. These jobs and skills would be identified by the surveys mentioned in section 7.

10. Policy Changes

Under law people are not permitted to live in ecologically dangerous zones. However, experience tells us that many such zones can be made safe by the building of infrastructure and without causing ecological damage. A change in law would facilitate the adoption of such a process for numerous communities living along river banks and natural drainage channels in Pakistan in general and in Karachi in particular.

Laws in Pakistan (such as the Land Acquisition Act 1894) entitle market compensation only to leased properties if they are affected by the building of infrastructure or their properties are required for “public use”. Non-leased properties are not entitled to compensation irrespective of how long people have lived there and what they have invested in them. As a result, major injustices are perpetuated causing an increase in poverty and marginalisation. It is therefore necessary that the National Resettlement Policy of March 2002 of the Government of Pakistan should be reviewed through public hearings, suitably modified, and made law and implemented.

To reduce the negative impact of major infrastructure projects, it is necessary to advertise them at the conceptual stage, hold public hearings around them and on that basis modify them to minimise their negative impact on poor communities. It is also necessary to establish a steering committee of interest groups who should oversee the projects. To curtail financial corruption, accounts of the project should be published quarterly and a tribunal established for receiving and addressing complaints. It is also necessary to make one officer in-charge of the project from its commencement to its completion and the name of this officer should be mentioned on the letterhead of the project and in all correspondence and advertisements related to it. These recommendations should be made law and procedures for their implementation should be developed.

A number of laws exist in Pakistan such as the Katchi Abadi Act of 1978. However, these laws are routinely violated because the necessary procedures for implementing them have not been developed and the necessary institutional arrangements to oversee them have not been put in place. A review of the non-implementation of these laws and the reasons for it needs to be undertaken and on that basis detailed procedures will have to be established.

However, the most important change that is required is in the mindset and training of professionals related to planning, engineering, architecture, law and civil servants. Their training should not only acquaint them with ground realities but also develop in them a social consciousness that transcends deeply entrenched class biases. The Comprehensive Environmental Design Project at the NED University and Dawood College Departments of Architecture and Planning in Karachi has been a successful attempt at making student understand ground realities and overcoming their biases.