By Venita Christopher
The Capital Development Authority (CDA) is in charge of all municipal services and infrastructure development in Islamabad. CDA presented a comprehensive plan of 10.2 billion for the construction of 10th Avenue, which was approved by the CDWP(Central Development Working Party) in mid-November 2021. On the one hand, where CDA has enthusiastically begun the work, yet, on the other hand, the project will snatch the roofs of informal settlers in H-9. Under this project, 1400 houses in Rimsha Colony H-9 will be demolished, which will ruin the future of these people.
The 24th of February marked the most disastrous day in the lives of the residents of the Rimsha Colony. After hearing the news that their roof would be taken away soon, they lost the joy of their lives. H-9 is currently home to two informal Christian settlements. The first informal settlers at H-9/2 were the Akram Masih Gill Colony residents, named after Christian politician and Minister of State for Minorities, Akram Masih Gill. Gill helped provide housing to slum dwellers of Shehzad Town, who lived along the roadside of G-7 before being rendered homeless and relocated to H-9/2. Eventually, some new informal Christian settlers made their way to H-9. The CDA founded a new Christian colony at H-9 called Rimsha Colony in 2012 following the Rimsha Masih blasphemy case.
Rimsha Masih was 14 years old Christian girl who was falsely accused by a Muslim cleric in 2012 for burning the pages of the Holy Quran. She was arrested under a blasphemy case and spent three weeks in an adult jail. In the end, the Islamabad Court released the innocent girl on bail, who later moved to Canada with her family. As a result of the blasphemy case, there were riots and strikes by Muslims in the Mehrabadi Colony, forcing many Christian settlers to flee and be relocated by the CDA to a new area named Rimsha Colony in her honor. In both colonies, necessities are lacking. These informal settlers lived in tents when they first moved into H-9. A few people still live in tents today. People living there seem to be living in the dark ages, without electricity, clean drinking water, transportation, or medical facilities. The shocking news about the 10th Avenue project added fuel to the fire.
The residents of the Rimsha colony were given similar heartbreaking news three years ago by CDA, that they would have to demolish four houses of Rimsha, but nothing has happened since then. Similarly, on 24 February 2022, CDA again notified the Christian residents of Rimsha Colony that 1400 slum houses would be demolished due to the design of the road and the construction of an underpass for the 10th Avenue project road that will pass through Rimsha Colony. “We were left feeling helpless by CDA officials when they visited the community on 24th February”, said one of the residents.
The 10th avenue project
The 10.2 billion project is a great struggle by the CDA to improve the infrastructure of the Capital, but this development will take away the shelter of many helpless and needy too. The project will involve road work, construction of an overhead bridge at Margalla Railway Station, an underpass at H-9/H-10, an interchange at Kashmir Highway, rehabilitation and resettlement of slums in Sector H-9, underpasses at I-9 and I-10, the interchange at IJP Road, an underpass at G-9/G-10, an underpass at Ibne-e-Seena Road, an underpass at Jinnah Avenue, and underpasses at F-9 and F-10. This comprehensive plan was also approved by Minister of Planning Asad Umar in a meeting on 4th December,2021. Its construction has already started, which gave the residents of Rimsha Colony just three months to plan their future.
In response to the CDA’s notice that slum dwellers in the Rimsha Colony had to think about their future, the helpless, poor, and needy residents raised their voices. The Awami Workers Party (AWP), a left-wing political party, came to the aid of the residents. Additionally, Team Ravadar met with the residents to learn more about their feelings and the after-effects of this shocking news.
Pakistan-Environmental Protection Authority (Pak-EPA) organized a public hearing on 24th February 2022 at the Jinnah Convention Center in Islamabad, which CDA officials attended, the members of Alliance for Kachi Abadis and AWP to inform the residents of Rimsha Colony about the 1400 slum houses that fall in the way of the proposed road. It will take 21 months to complete the entire project. As a result, the residents of Rimsha Colony urged CDA and EPA to recognize them as stakeholders in the project and to realign the road to save their homes. This public hearing was based on a question-answer session where residents, officials of AWP, CDA, and Pak-EPA took place. No further response has been received by the higher authorities yet. People are still waiting and requested them not to demolish their homes.
Sheraz Masih* said, “we have built the houses with our hard-earned money, and it would be challenging for us to leave them. We are already living in poverty and have spent everything that we had to build our homes”.
Informal settlers were worried about losing their homes. To fight for the rights of poor slums, they requested the assistance of AWP. Parveen Gill* shared, “CDA brought us to Rimsha Colony in 2012 and helped us settle here. We worked hard and built new homes here. We were initially living in tents. Why did CDA allow us to build homes in this community at that time? Why did they not tell us straight out that we had to leave the colony afterward? CDA had initially said that only four homes would be demolished. However, after some months, we came to know they would demolish 1400 houses. We have no words for their unkind treatment to the poor slums”.
Shahnaz Khokhar*, an old lady, said, “I am a widow and the mother of five daughters. I will not leave my home for anything. I lost my husband, and I am poor. We lack shelter and food to eat. As a diabetic patient, I cannot even afford my medicines. We live in extreme poverty. We want CDA to shelter us first; then, we will leave; otherwise, we will die in front of the bulldozers and cranes when their demolition team comes to demolish our homes”.
The residents want CDA to provide them with all the details about the 10th Avenue project. In addition, they want the government to ensure that every resident of the Rimsha Colony will have a shelter to live in if CDA demolishes their homes. These residents should be relocated to a safe area. They want the government to provide human rights and to discuss cooperation and settlement with other Kachi Abadis.
CDA must relocate to some new place, the informal settlements of the minority community, if they want to build a road under the 10th Avenue project. Some Christians living in Rimsha Colony are still living in tents and lack access to electricity, water, and other basic needs. The government must provide basic human rights and shelter to poor community and think better of their future.
*Note: The names of the interviewees have been changed to protect their identities.