FROM time to time, the common problems of the residents of Defence Housing Authority (DHA) are highlighted in the media, such as chronic water shortages, broken roads, heaps of garbage, over-flowing sewage, lack of parking spaces, and the spread of unregulated commercial activities in residential areas, such as workshops, welding units and wood-cutting machines. These remain persistent nuisances despite the fact that residents pay exorbitant taxes.
I face a specific building-related problem located in DHA Phase-V Badar Commercial that we and our next-door neighbour have been struggling to sort out for the last two months without success. A new tenant in the building has brought in two large dogs. He lives on the second floor, while we reside on the top floor.
Under regulations stipulated by the DHA and Cantonment Board Clifton (CBC), pets, especially large dogs, cannot be kept in flats, nor can common spaces be used in ways that create nuisance or hygiene hazards. Yet, the tenant regularly takes the dogs to the rooftop for urination and defecation, effectively turning the entire rooftop into a washroom for animals. This has created unbearable filth.
After exhausting the option of repeated personal requests to the tenant, we formally approached DHA and CBC. Their teams visited the site, confirmed the facts, and noted that the tenant did not possess the mandatory licence for keeping dogs. Despite repeated warnings issued to him by the authorities over the course of a month, no substantive action followed.
We then contacted the DHA’s official concerned, who acknowledged the seriousness of the situation and responded positively. Even teams were sent to remove the dogs, but the tenant managed to avoid action on the assurance that he would remove the animals within a week.
When the deadline passed, we followed up again, but were made to run back and forth between the DHA and CBC without any resolution. It eventually became clear that the tenant was leveraging his position to evade enforcement.
We are now left helpless, with all lawful avenues exhausted and no remedy in sight. It is deeply disappointing that even such a straightforward, genuine public-health concern cannot be addressed effectively either by the DHA or CBC.
Will the leadership of the two organisations take due notice and enforce the rules they expect residents to follow?
ASGHAR SOOMRO
KARACHI
